Owners of a Russian and Eastern European restaurant in Ramsgate say the war in Ukraine could end their business because some people don’t understand they are from the Eastern bloc and not from Russia and vehemently oppose Putin’s military attack.

Ramsay Taralis and Tanya Taraliene have run the CCCP restaurant in Chatham Street for 12 years and are part of the community.

Ramsay, originally from Lithuania, is also a duty firefighter for Ramsgate Fire Station.

The couple, who have a daughter of secondary school age, say they are against the invasion in Ukraine but still suffered a drop in bookings and saw nasty comments on their social media because people believe in wrong that they are Russians and also don’t realize that many Russians don’t support Putin.

The CCCP restaurant serves dishes from the former United Socialist Soviet Republic, or USSR, which consisted of 15 republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Ramsay and Tanya, who is from Belarus, say their aim is to serve food and after surviving the ordeals of Brexit and then Covid, they are now praying they can stay afloat despite Putin’s onslaught on Ukraine.

Ramsay said: “When it all started the police told us if anything happened we should call them.

“Some people don’t understand that we support Ukraine. Everything happening in Ukraine and Belarus is crazy, they just pushed without asking. It’s just shocking what is happening, even Belarus has put the country at war for no reason.

“These are the great leaders in Russia, they do what they want without listening to the people, they even tell them that it’s not a war.

“I’m worried about friends, a friend went back to Ukraine to fight, and I’m also worried about my family here, about my daughter who said things to him on the school bus.

“We have a family business, we only cook fresh food from the 15 countries of the former Soviet Union. Yes there is Lenin stuff and atmosphere stuff but there is no Putin , it’s all about history, we don’t support war.

“We put in 12 years of hard work and now it could be over.”

Tanya says she does not support the Belarusian alliance with Russia forged by politician Alexander Lukashenko who has been president of Belarus since the office was established in 1994 and is dependent on Russia for its grip on power.

Tanya said: “I am a Belarusian woman who is against Lukashenko’s and Putin’s regimes. I have family in Belarus and Ukraine. In Belarus, people no longer have any rights.

“I stand for freedom in Belarus without Lukashenko and Putin.”

Tanya’s position means returning to the country to visit her family would now be extremely dangerous.

Putin’s military action in Ukraine on February 24 has since seen heavy artillery assaults in cities like Kiev and Kharkiv.

More than 1.3 million people have fled Ukraine, the vast majority passing through Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova.

Partial ceasefire talks with Russia are reportedly underway to create a humanitarian corridor between Mariupol and Volnovakha, but Ukraine says firing has continued in the area, breaching an agreement to stop the fire and allow civilians to leave Mariupol today (5 March).

Demonstrations are taking place in the streets of Kherson, which was captured by Russia on Wednesday.

Demonstrations against the war on Ukraine also took place in London last weekend and again this weekend.

Ongoing anti-war demonstrations and protests have also taken place across Russia. The protests were met with a widespread crackdown by Russian authorities, with more than 6,500 arrests made in the seven days from February 24 to March 2.

The Metropolitan Police War Crimes Team is collecting evidence regarding alleged war crimes in Ukraine in support of the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation, which was confirmed by the ICC Prosecutor on March 2.

The War Crimes Team is part of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command and has national responsibility for carrying out all UK investigations into war crimes and core international crimes. Detectives are appealing to anyone in the UK who may have direct evidence of war crimes in Ukraine from November 21, 2013 until today.

Evidence provided and collected by the Met’s war crimes team can then be shared with the ICC to help them in their ongoing investigation. At present, and in line with guidelines established jointly with the Crown Prosecution Service, there is no UK-based investigation by the War Crimes Team into war crimes in Ukraine.

To report a suspected war crime to the War Crimes Team, visit our online reporting tool at: https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/war- crimes/af/report-a-war -crime/

Find the CCCP restaurant on facebook here