Support for Ukraine is taking many forms from massive worldwide sanctions against Russia, to a small gesture at a restaurant in Marin County.
That’s where they’ve stopped serving Russian vodka. Inspired by the heartbreaking story of a restaurant worker who fears for her family’s lives.
At Il Davide Italian restaurant in San Rafael, you can have pretty much any drink you want, unless what you want is a Moscow Mule.
“I had the idea to swap out our Moscow mule for the Kyiv mule. I came up with the idea and switched from Russia standard vodka to Ukrainian brand,” said bar manager John Barash.
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What inspired the switch is restaurant worker Angelika Volotchaeva from Ukraine.
“It’s horrible! It’s been just seven days but it still seems surreal,” she said. “I can’t believe this has happened to my country.”
When she watches the war unfold on TV, she sees neighborhoods she knows, buildings she’s been to many times. Her mother, her sister and her sister’s three children fled Kyiv last week, moving two hours away to escape the war.
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But now, the war has found them again.
“My mom called me and when I talk to her she is so scared – I’ve never seen my mom like that, and that makes me ... I want to support her, I want to tell her everything will be fine because that’s what they want to hear right now, but I can’t because I’m crying and I don’t know what to do or how to help them,” said Volotchaeva.
She said she is grateful to the U.S. for the strong sanctions they’ve slapped on Russia. But she wants to know if more could be done.
“At the same time, what sanction can stop a bomb and a missile falling from the sky on these people right now?” said Volotchaeva.
