The Ukrainian ambassador visited LAS RAK, which was shut down because its owners supported Ukraine
15 July 19:16
Vasyl Bondar, Ukraine’s ambassador to Poland, visited the LAS RAK gallery and shop in Warsaw, which had recently been attacked. During his visit, he spoke with the shop’s owners and thanked them for their support of Ukraine, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
“I had the honor today of speaking with Ms. Ewa and Ms. Zofia from LAS RAK—a handmade crafts workshop. I sincerely thanked them for their stance, their kind hearts, and their help to people,” the ambassador wrote.
He also received a gift from the owners: handmade flowers in the national colors of Poland and Ukraine.
In addition, Vasyl Bondar invited everyone to visit this art space, which features thousands of unique handmade items.
Why Was Las Rąk Vandalized?
As a reminder, in Warsaw, an unknown person vandalized the Las Rąk handicraft gallery after one of its employees publicly expressed her disagreement with anti-Ukrainian slogans during a march commemorating the victims of the Volhynia tragedy. This was reported by Gazeta Wyborcza.
According to the gallery’s owner, Zofia Boruchynska, the incident began on July 4. As a column of march participants passed by the gallery, an employee stepped out onto the street and made a gesture with her thumbs down, protesting the anti-Ukrainian chants.
Boruchynska emphasized that there were no offensive gestures or profanity on the part of the staff. She also noted that the staff respects the memory of the victims of the Volhynia tragedy, as some employees have family members who also suffered during those events.
After that, she said, the gallery became the target of an organized campaign: threatening phone calls began to come in, aggressive individuals visited the gallery, and hundreds of negative reviews appeared online, along with attempts to label the gallery as supposedly permanently closed.
On July 6, the situation escalated: a man aged about 30–40 burst into the premises, began smashing exhibits, broke handmade items by Polish artisans, and knocked over exhibition stands.
The police have opened two separate investigations—one regarding threats against gallery staff and the other regarding the attack itself. Law enforcement officials have seized CCTV footage. One suspect has already been detained in connection with the threats, while the attacker who ransacked the gallery is still at large.
Following the incident, residents of Poland organized a fundraiser to help restore Las Rąk. To date, over 137,000 zlotys have been raised. The gallery reported that after covering the damages, the remaining funds will be donated to social projects, specifically to support the Asymetryści Foundation, which assists with the evacuation and relocation of refugees from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
