No politics allowed in Kelowna’s Russian and Ukrainian Deli

A Kelowna deli catering to Eastern European tastes – with lots of Russian and Ukrainian customers – is not the place to talk about the war in Ukraine.

In fact, a sign in the store bans politics.

“Russian people are different than Ukrainian,” store co-owner Alena Smironova told iNFOnews.ca. “That’s why I don’t want to speak about politics the way it is right now. To see and hear about it is very hard.”

READ MORE: 'I am not OK': Canadian Ukrainian in Kamloops in emotional pain as Russia invades homeland

She and husband Alex Smirnov hold Canadian and Israeli citizenship and are originally from Belarus. They bought the store seven years ago and did not want to change the name.

“It is not Russian and Ukrainian,” Smironova said. “It is just food, traditional food.”

Customers come from many Eastern European countries, including Georgia, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Lithuania and Poland. And Canada.

“We support Ukraine, yes,” Smironova said. “It is a terrible situation when people die, especially women and children and old people.”

While most customers, including Russians seem to support Ukraine, the deli is not the place to discuss any opposing views on the war.

“In my store, I don’t want to see it and that is why I put the sign up: No politics here,” Smironova said.

“We don’t have Russian flags, Ukrainian flags, any flags or anything symbolic,” Smironova said. “Only the name: Russian and Ukrainian Deli.”

The Russian and Ukrainian Deli is at 1960 Springfield Rd.

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