A Russian restaurant and Ukrainian students raise funds for Ukraine

TAMPA — Ukraine and Russia not only share a border but also cultural and historical ties that go back centuries.

So when Ukrainian students at the University of South Florida asked Russian restaurant owner Kirill Chemodanov to help raise money for humanitarian relief in Ukraine, he didn’t hesitate. Babushka’s, his Russian restaurant in Hyde Park, will host a benefit dinner on Saturday.

“We cannot be blind to the suffering of the Ukrainian people,” Chemodanov said. “We would like to invite more people and businesses to support the Ukrainian people.”

The event will begin at 6 p.m. at Babushka’s at 901 W Platt St. Organizers say Proceeds will go to Razom, a non-profit human rights and humanitarian relief organization that has been raising funds for Ukraine since 2014. Razom is a Ukrainian word meaning “together”.

Chemodanov opened Babushka’s in December. He and his father, Alexander Chemodanov, also own and run another Babushka in Temple Terrace.

The family is from Novorossiysk, Russia, a port city on the Black Sea. Chemodanov said it was not a difficult decision to support Ukraine despite his family’s ties to Russia. Restaurants are one of the main gathering places for Russians and Eastern Europeans in the Tampa Bay area, he said. Both restaurants have been flying Ukrainian flags since the invasion began in February,

In the first weeks of the war, both restaurants offered free borscht, a beetroot soup, to people who presented proof that they had given money to Ukraine. The restaurant also held a protest on March 5 where around 100 people gathered in support of Ukraine. There was also an immigration lawyer present for Ukrainians who needed help.

Chemodanov told the Tampa Bay Weather in March that some members of the local Russian community were unhappy that the restaurant did not support their own country.

“We are doing what is right,” Chemodanov said. “Nobody in my family supports what is happening.”

Her father also lives in Tampa Bay, but her mother still lives in Russia. The family works to try to get her out of the country.

Dinner costs $60 per person and includes a 4-course tasting menu of Ukrainian dishes and cocktails, Chemodanov said. The menu will include vareniki, which resemble perogies, chicken kyiv, traditional Ukrainian salads and borscht.

USF Ukrainian Students, the student group helping to organize the event, also arranges for Ukrainian musicians to perform.

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“It doesn’t matter where you’re from, it’s an international issue, not just between Russia and Ukraine,” said Ivan Cherniavskyi, a Ukrainian student at USF who helped organize the event. “Only together as one international community can we stop this war and help those in need.”

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If you are interested

Or: Babushka’s, 901 W Platt St., Tampa.

When: Saturday, 6 p.m.

Cost: $60 per person.

Reservations: To reserve a table, use opentable.com or call 813-647-9239.