In the German city of Baden-Baden, Ukrainian Igor Goloda was fired from his job for his video message condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"Russia's war against independent Ukraine has also reached the peaceful Baden-Baden in Germany. I was fired from the famous Rizzi restaurant for my peaceful protest against Russian aggression in Ukraine. Namely, for anti-war posts on social networks. According to management, they cause reputational damage to the restaurant. Allegedly, Russian-speaking people don't want to come to the restaurant because their employee supports Ukraine," Golod explained.
He urged Ambassador Andrei Melnik and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to respond. The Ukrainian also asks his friends in Germany to involve, if possible, local human rights activists and officials who could intervene in the situation.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has responded to the incident and assured that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is already providing our citizen with the necessary consular assistance. The Ukrainian is being given the necessary legal advice.
"The Ukrainian state will not allow anyone to offend its citizens. Neither in Ukraine nor abroad. We will respond harshly to cases of disrespect," Kuleba stressed.
The head of the Foreign Ministry said that he had been to Baden-Baden, a German city where many Russians live, many times.
"Igor Holoda, a resident of Odesa who worked at the local Rizzi restaurant, was fired for his video message to the Russians because of Russia's war against Ukraine. According to available information, the management of the restaurant, oriented towards the Russian-speaking population of Baden-Baden, did not like the truth about the thousands of Ukrainian civilians killed, more than a hundred children murdered, and dozens of cities destroyed as a result of the aggression of Russian troops. My message to all Putin's supporters in Germany and elsewhere is that you are just like the pilots of Russian planes that kill Ukrainian civilians. With your acquiescence or open support, Ukrainian children have been hiding in basements from Russian bombs for 27 consecutive days. 117 children have already been killed and 155 have been wounded. Adults cannot bury their loved ones because of artillery shelling. You are also responsible for the war crimes of the Russian army in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Sumy, Volnovakha, Kherson and other parts of Ukraine," Kuleba wrote on Facebook.
He also has appealed to the management of the restaurant.
"Rizzi, are you worried about your reputation in the eyes of Russian-speaking customers in Baden-Baden? And you should realize that right now your reputation has come to an end. And even the most effective German detergents will not wash the blood of innocents off your hands and out of your restaurant," Kuleba emphasized.
President Vladimir Zelenskyy turned on the sound of the air-raid alarm, which Ukrainians have to listen to for weeks, in a video address to German citizens on 21 March.
On 17 March, the president of Ukraine made a presentation to the German parliament.