This is all politics – we are family, say expats

Ukrainians living alongside fellow expats from “brother” Russia in the Mediterranean seaside town of Limassol in Cyprus looked on in horror on Thursday at the Russian assault on their homeland.

“This is the worst-case scenario we could have imagined. They are bombing all regions of Ukraine, attacking all our airports and bases,” said Evgeny Staroselskiy, a director of Russian Radio Cyprus, based in Limassol.

He said nationals from both countries had awoken in shock to hear of the full-blown conflict unfolding between Ukraine and its giant neighbour.

“A lot of people have family on both sides of the border,” said the 60-year-old native of Kharkiv, a mainly Russian-speaking city in eastern Ukraine, considered in the “red zone” because of its proximity to the border with Russia.

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But Staroselskiy stressed the influence of Russian media on the attitude of citizens from their side – even in sunny Limassol, also known as “Limassolgrad” or “Moscow on the Med”, that has being home to tens of thousands of people from ex-Soviet republics, as well as a favourite holiday destination.

“We are all brothers but we are now receiving telephone calls from some Russians who actually support this crazy [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. We are very surprised.”

A group of Russian bikers, clad in leather waistcoats with Moscow and Saint Petersburg “hooligans” emblazoned on the back, tried to play things down.

“This is all bulls**t; it’s all politics,” said Grigori, declining to give a surname. “We are family.” For many ordinary Ukrainians, said Oksana, a mother from Kherson, a Russian-speaking city close to the hotspot Crimean Peninsula, an immediate concern for family back home was rapidly rising food and utility prices.

As for security, “people don’t know where to go, what to do. Bridges are being bombed”, she said. Cyprus itself fears the fallout from the war, with flights already cancelled.

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– AFP