After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, baseball great Babe Ruth stalked his house and destroyed every item that was made in Japan. “He started throwing things out the window that he got from Japan … dolls, whatever he could reach,” explained his granddaughter, Linda Ruth Tosetti. He never explained how destroying these items would hurt the Japanese emperor or the military that conducted the raid. In a similar burst of misguided rage, well-meaning people around the world have poured out their rage at all things they perceive to be “Russian” due to their outrage over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian restaurant owners, some of whom fled Soviet tyranny, have received threats. Angry Westerners have punished antiwar Russian performers, long-dead Russian cultural figures, cats and dogs who hail from the Motherland, even inanimate pixels flickering on gaming screens. Here are a few of the most egregious examples:
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