Following claims that a guy, thought to be Russian, threw a 10-year-old Ukrainian boy from a bridge for speaking his native language, German police launched an inquiry.
Over a million refugees have been welcomed in Germany since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started. Investigators believe the attack was politically motivated.
The man, who seemed to be in his early 40s and spoke Russian, approached a group of youngsters conversing on a bridge in Einbeck, Lower Saxony, while speaking Ukrainian.
He told them to speak Russian and stated that the crisis originated in Ukraine.
According to investigators, the suspect then pulled a girl by her hair and threw a boy over the bridge’s five-meter railing into the canal below.
The toddler collided with the bridge’s iron girders before falling into the river below.
The man then grabbed a glass bottle and hurled it at the submerged child, injuring him on the right shoulder. The attacker fled while the other youngsters retrieved the injured child from the water and hurried to warn their parents.
The child was taken to the hospital with minor injuries to his left foot and head, but he was quickly released.
Since Berlin increased its military aid to Kyiv and opened its doors to refugees, there has been an increase in assaults against Ukrainians in Germany.
Ukrainians have seen increasing animosity from two groups in Germany: the extreme right, which is largely supportive of Putin, and Russians living in Germany. Earlier this month, Ukrainian students studying in Frankfurt noticed the letter Z written on their dorm room wall as a symbol of Putin’s war.
In Berlin, some Ukrainians have gone so far as to remove any distinguishing insignia from their clothing in case they attract unwelcome attention.
Germany is home to an estimated 3.5 million Russians, Russians of German heritage, and Russian Jews, making it the biggest Russian population in the West.
Following the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, millions of people fled to Germany. While most are absorbed without incident into society, fears of pro-Kremlin sympathies among others have grown since Russia’s sweeping invasion of Ukraine.
“The ability to hate and inflict suffering”
This clearly demonstrates how many individuals in Germany are nasty against one another. “Many associate themselves with Russia and the Soviet Union; they watch Russian TV and are totally brainwashed by Russian propaganda,” said Sergej Sumlenny, director of the European Resilience Centre.
According to Mr. Sumlenny, although this occurrence was “extreme” and “absolutely unprovoked,” it was “not an exception.” As one Russian put it, this is the standard of anti-Ukrainian attitude in Russia: the propensity to hate, harm, and even kill someone just because they speak Ukrainian.