Hateful messages scrawled on Ukrainian-Canadian bakery in Etobicoke as tensions with Russia rise

Toronto Police say they are investigating after a Ukrainian-Canadian bakery in Etobicoke was defaced on Tuesday morning with anti-Ukrainian messages

Borys Wrzesnewskyj, the owner of Future Bakery on North Queen Street, had put up a banner that said "#STANDWITHUKRAINE" and "#StopPutinNOW" to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they face a possible Russian military invasion. 

On Tuesday morning, someone painted over the banner and a mural on the side of the bakery with the words "Russia is power," "F–k Ukrian [sic] and Canada," "#LOSERS" and the word "Russia" written in the Russian language.

Words on the banner were also painted over so that it read "#Putin," referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"This was not just graffiti, not just vandalism. It was an attempt at intimidation and it's hateful," said Wrzesnewskyj, whose family came to Canada from Ukraine after the Second World War.

The incident happened as U.S. and Ukrainian officials estimate more than 100,000 Russian troops are gathered near Ukraine's border. The Canadian government is warning against travel to Ukraine and is urging Canadians in the country to leave as western powers try to persuade Putin not to invade his much smaller neighbour.

Wrzesnewskyj said the bakery was vandalized between midnight and 4:45 a.m.

Toronto police said they're investigating the incident as mischief and that specialized officers from the Hate Crime Unit may support the investigation if they are needed. 

Peter Schturyn, the president of the Toronto branch of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, said the comments painted on the bakery were "really heinous and hateful." 

"We as a community are appalled," he said.

"Ukrainians just want to be left alone and manage their own affairs in their own country."

Future Bakery has been open in Etobicoke since 1996. Wrzesnewskyj is also a former federal member of parliament, and he held the riding of Etobicoke Centre from 2004 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2019.

Wrzesnewskyj says he plans to put up the banner again, although he may need to order a new one. The mural, meanwhile, is unique and he said he will have to think about how to replace it. 

"If we allow ourselves to be intimidated by propagators of hate and people who under the cover of darkness are trying to intimidate, then we've lost. So we cannot be intimidated," he said.