“Are you a spy?”: how Russians are treated in Washington

Spring 2017 of the year is probably not the best time to be Russian in Washington, writes The Washington Post.

Constant news reports about how far the Kremlin’s hand got in the US election process last year are too many for many residents of the capital, especially for those closely associated with Russia.

Those who have been watching this topic for a long time say that such a number of accusations, as well as streams of accompanying headlines, have not been since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. For example:

Dick Cheney: Russia's intervention in elections is an act of aggression.

Survey: Almost half of Americans believe that Russia intervened in the elections.

Trump, Putin and the new Cold War.

The Senate Intelligence Committee will begin interrogations in the “Russian case” next week.

As the issue of engaging Russia sounds louder and louder, some say that the burden of American suspicion falls on them unfairly. And spy jokes are generally obsolete.

“You turn on the TV, and there is Russia everywhere, Russia, Russia, on every channel,” says Igor Yefimov, dean of the faculty of biomedical engineering at George Washington University. “This is a constant daily thinking that in some way 140 of millions of people personify evil, in my opinion completely inappropriate.”

53-year-old Efimov, a US citizen who emigrated from Russia on 1992, supports the Democratic Party and voted for Clinton. But he doesn’t like the fact that the questions that Russia’s Vladimir Putin had influenced Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016 were used to delegitimize the new president before they proved anything. And he is angry that all Russians are measured by one ruler.

“I don’t know what is behind these accusations, and whether Russia had to do with it or not,” says Efimov. “Maybe so, but again, I would like to see the facts first.” I am a scientist and, as a rule, I base my opinions on facts, and not on what someone said there. But if it is true that it is quite possible, then these accusations do not mean that the whole community is to blame. ”

In the confrontation with Russia, the most attention is paid to diplomats and bankers. And hackers, of course. But in the Washington Russian and Russian-American community, which is not so huge, there are also teachers and truck drivers, hairdressers and hockey stars. Now even they started asking questions.

Before moving to the US in 1999, Lily Rozhkova worked as a journalist in Russia. Most of her friends in Washington are Russians, and the first thing they talk about when they meet is relations between Russia and the United States.

“We care,” Lily says. “We are just trying to remain optimistic, and we hope that the situation will be resolved and our worst fears will not come true.”

44-year-old Rozhkova has a green card and works at a real estate office in Virginia. She recalls that when President Barack Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats with families last December as a punishment for Russia's intervention in the elections, she became an object of jokes from American friends and colleagues.

“They asked:“ Are you a spy? Do you work for the KGB? ”. And I replied that the KGB has not been around for many years, ”she recalls with a smile. “They were just joking, and that’s all.”

But as the accusations become more serious, the jokes cease to be jokes, says Rozhkova.

“I can say that in the past few months they more often remember Russia,” said a woman. “Before the elections, it was more like a joke, but now, the more they get information from television and the media, the more they begin to believe that it can be true.”

Crowded restaurant Mari vanna in the center of Washington is one of the favorite places of Russian expats, including the star forward of the hockey team Washington Capitals Alexandra Ovechkin. Here are constantly talking about Russia. However, 27-year-old restaurant manager Tatiana Mies says she hasn’t noticed a surge of concern about US-Russian relations.

Sitting at the bar counter, where you can choose from an assortment of 16 vodka varieties or buy an ounce of caviar from royal sturgeon for $ 130, Belarusian Mies says that the jokes about Russian spies are not new.

“When I speak Russian by phone in a store, people look askance at me,” she says. - But it normal. I don’t think they say, “Oh, she’s a spy.” All very cute. ”

Фото: Depositphotos

For father Viktor Potapov, the situation looks quite different. The rector of the Russian Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist in northwestern Washington says that "being a Russian-American now is almost the same as being a Russian-American during the Cold War."

68-year-old Potapov came to the US in 1950 year. He was then 2 of the year. He grew up in Cleveland in a family of ardent anti-Communists, who always told his son to remind his American friends that there was a huge difference between the Soviet regime and the Russian people.

Potapov was delighted when the Soviet Union collapsed, and new relations began to emerge between the United States and resurgent Russia. What is happening to them now worries Potapov, at least in the short term. He believes that the issue of Russia's interference in the American elections is very bloated, and that Russia's role is misinterpreted.

“I am always happy if someone from the Americans says:“ Wait, guys, let's stop and soberly discuss what is happening. ” “You can't see a KGB agent behind every bush,” he says. “We are very pleased when there are people who write sensible texts instead of intimidating everyone.”

The Potapov Church consists of approximately 500 families of parishioners who attend services in Russian and support Russian traditions and culture. Batiushka says that he is trying to keep politics out of parish life. He knows that some of his members are ardent supporters of Putin and Trump, while others are no less vehemently against them.

“But we live together,” says Potapov. He wants the same for America with Russia. “If we could make friends, how beautiful the world would be.”

But for the time being, the effect of media attention to this problem is such that many Russians are on their guard, while others are closing in on themselves.

“The hysteria about Russia in the media makes people vulnerable to this issue. Some people are uncomfortable talking about it in public, says Efimov. - Some fear for their work. For democracy, all this is very sad. "

Read also on ForumDaily:

“I couldn’t force myself to hate America”: the incredible history of the Soviet spy in the USA

Investors are interested in the residence of expelled Russian diplomats

Russian arrested for spying in the United States received 2,5 of the year in prison

Spy, get out: the life of the children of Russian agents after the exposure of the Americans

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