West Hollywood business that caters to Russian-speaking community faces threats, changes its name – bestinau

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) – Daniel Lerman has operated the passport and foreign travel business in West Hollywood called Russian Universal Services for 25 years. When Russia invaded Ukraine last month, his business became a target for those against the war, a war he’s also against. Lerman was born and raised in Ukraine.

“They think we are affiliated with Russian government, but this is not so. We just help Russian speaking people to file documents to do various documentation stuff. We help Ukrainians. We help Jewish people. We help Russian people. When I came to this country, there was no separation. We all speak Russian. We all came from the Soviet Union, “said Lerman.

The threats include calls from strangers telling Lerman to shutdown his business and leave the United States. It got so bad, Lerman decided to change the name of his business. It’s now called Document USA. the new sign arrives next week.

“Targeting people and businesses in general because they speak Russian. I speak Russian. I also speak Ukrainian. So, I think it’s unbelievable. It’s terrible,” said Diana Gustafson, a customer at Dokument USA.

A large part of Daniel Lerman’s business is processing travel visas to Russia which has stopped because of the invasion. Lerman says his customers are scared to travel.

It’s a sad reality of the war that’s happening thousands of miles away … that businesses across the country are feeling the effects. From New York City to San Francisco, where a business was asked to remove the word Russian from their advertising. And in San Diego, the Pushkin Russian restaurant has also received threats.