“I’ve lived here for 50 years!”: In Odessa, a security guard frankly responded to a deputy who asked to switch to Ukrainian

Odessa City Council deputy from the European Solidarity party, Andriy Vagapov, described an incident that occurred in the Auchan store, where a conflict arose between him and a security guard. The incident happened on June 14 in the Riviera shopping mall. As Vagapov noted, during the purchase, one of the security guards began to demand to show the goods from his basket while communicating in Russian.

When the deputy attempted to emphasize the importance of communicating in Ukrainian, the security guard responded with an unpleasant remark and tried to communicate in English instead. When Vagapov asked to call the head of security, the security guard responded aggressively, reaching for him.

Remaining calm, Vagapov warned that he could defend himself in the event of repeated physical contact. Later, he turned to another security guard, found out where the head was, and discussed the incident with him and the store administrator.

According to Vagapov, the Auchan administration was shocked by the guard’s behavior and confirmed that employees should communicate in the state language. As a result, the guard was brought in to process his dismissal, and the deputy was promised a document on disciplinary action.

On the same day, Vagapov also spoke about a meeting with an older woman in the Lviv Croissants cafe. She, who had asked to charge her phone, turned out to be 98 years old. She told about the difficult times of occupation during World War II and how she began learning Ukrainian in 2022, during the occupation of Kherson.

“In the twelfth year of the war – what prevents you from learning your native language? A person started at 95, and you?!” – Vagapov commented emotionally.