In order to feel the pulse of the Russian-Ukrainian tensions in New York, there is a unique place to visit in Brooklyn: Brighton Beach, also known as “Little Odessa”, a neighborhood that has been the meeting point of the new wave of Russian immigrants, but also former soviet people like Ukrainian, since the 1970s. On a cold Sunday afternoon, strolling the large promenade that comes right after the famous Coney Island beach, I’m unable to differentiate among all of the Eastern European accents, but the wind and the freezing air leave no room for doubt: the mood truly is Siberian.
I began to stop a few passersby, but the first attempts were in vain. When I said “I am a journalist”, the elderly vanished and the youngsters seemed uninterested. Once I added that I would have liked to ask them a couple questions about the current crisis between Russia and Ukraine, many appeared to be scared, as if some of the memories of what used to be the Soviet Union were still haunting their memories.
Further away on the beachfront, though, a couple of friends in their fifties, one from Poland and one from Belarus, agreed to stop and chat. Oxana, in particular, is the lively and cheerful woman who was in the mood to tell her story. In 2003 she decided to run away with her children from the “Belarusian mental prison”, and desperately looking for freedom, she landed in New York, on Brighton Beach. She said she is really worried about the Ukrainian crisis, since she still has friends living in the area. However, she is sure that the Ukranians will resist because they are very different from the Byelorussians: “They are not willing to fold and they want their independence.”
With some disappointment, Oxana told me that she wishes the United States had acted more firmly against “that bully, Putin”, but “America isn’t what it used to be,” she said, “it changed. Its values are good, but its democracy is in danger: here too, it is crumbling.” Her faith continues to burn: “The United States are still our only hope to change the world…”. When I asked her to take a picture she smiled warmly, as if to apologize, and replied that it’s impossible. Yes, it is because of that “mental prison”. She explained to me that in Belarus, an acquaintance’s son ended up in prison after liking a post “that he shouldn’t have” on social media. At that point, she said goodbye to me and hurried to meet up with her Polish friend, who was long gone by then.
I then came across Igor, originally from Kazakhstan, who grew up in Ukraine. “I am Muslim, but I speak Russian,” he immediately clarified. Next to him is his wife: she remained silent the whole time, looking intimidated. Asked about the crisis, he did not want to comment: “I am not interested in politics, I’m just hoping there won’t be a war”, he said shortly.
Continuing on my walk, I met a couple of friends from New Jersey who were spending a Sunday in Brighton Beach with their children, reminiscing about their arrival in the United States. Max is from Kiev, Dimitri from Moscow.
Even just looking at them, you can tell they’re the opposite of one another: the giant, Max, and little Dimitri. They’ve known each other for more than twenty years and they’ve been in the country since before the turn of the century. They did not seem willing to question their beautiful relationship based on the Ukrainian crisis. “We are smart enough not to talk about politics to one another,” they say, but considering they come straight from the two countries on a war footing, I insist and ask them to tell me something more regarding their opinion.
At that point, Max opens up by explaining the truth: “The economy in Russia is doing badly and, when everybody is suffering, the only way the president has to centralize his power is to look for an enemy on the outside. In this case: Ukraine. Of course I’m worried, my sister is still living in Kiev and America isn’t doing enough.”
Dimitri has a different opinion, and he was able to summarize the Ukrainian crisis in one sentence: “The United States shouldn’t get involved”. Both assured me, “we don’t trust the three of them.” Who are the three people they are referring to, I asked? “Putin, Zelensky and Biden”, was their answer. Then, Max added: “If Trump had been in power everything would have been different: he’s the only one who really is for the people.” I turned to look at Dimitri who, shaking his head and smiling, seemed to be expressing ‘loving’ disagreement.
The sun went down and the air got colder and colder. I decided to venture onto Brighton Beach Avenue, filled with small fruit and vegetables shops and with the famous “Tashkent Supermarket” on its corner, that even offers great service as a diner. There, a NYPD officer was monitoring the entrance.
It seemed weird: an armed policeman at the entrance of a supermarket? I came closer and recognized a Russian last name on his nametag: Guseynov. I asked him if he would answer a few questions and, with a smile, he made it clear that he would. To clear myself of any doubt, I immediately asked him about his presence as a guard in front of the grocery store. Are the Moscow-Kiev tensions keeping the NYPD, too, on its toes in Brighton Beach?
Did he notice any tensions between Russians and Ukrainians? “Absolutely not, everything has been normal, as usual. People here don’t let the countries they left affect their lives.” Officer Guseynov is young, he was born in Brooklyn. But his family came from Azerbaijan.
In Brighton Beach, you can’t distinguish between Russians and Ukrainians.
There is no tension, no air of war, just plenty of worry for friends and family that are still living in those two countries. Similar feelings and worries that are being felt in Europe, too, where now people fear the beginning of a conflict. Within the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces, there is probably also a deep divide on the way the crisis should be dealt with. From Moscow to St. Petersburg, many have at least a relative or a side of their family living in Ukraine.
What to us seem like two separate countries, and they are indeed according to international law, are still deeply connected by an umbilical cord. Brighton Beach, named Little Odessa because of its similarities to the Ukrainian city, developed next to a beautiful beach. We are in Brooklyn, the living symbol of this bond among nations.
Translated by Emma Pistarino
