A RESTAURANT which claims to be Scotland's only Soviet themed eatery has closed its doors but not over the Ukraine conflict. 

Cafe Cossachok on King Street in Glasgow "didn't survive Covid" according to owner Julia Atlas.

She told The Scottish Sun: “As a result of all restrictions, the people who rented our Cossachok for seven years faced a lot of problems running it. 

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“We made a decision to stop trading."

She opened the popular eatery around 24 years ago after she arrived in Scotland in 1991.

Julia added: “It was popular for so many years. It was an institution. But it’s the right time to say goodbye.

“It was the only former USSR restaurant in Scotland - I prefer a union of people all nations, all religions, all cultures living together in peace, sharing food and culture.

“We’ve had Ukrainian, Armenian, Georgian, Russian and Polish staff among many other nationalities so it was very multicultural. 

“I wanted a place where there was no religion, no race, no nothing, a place for everyone.”

She also has family in Ukraine and worries about their safety following the invasion by Russian forces. She added: "Women in my family living in Ukraine have taken their children and ran to Poland and the men have stayed in Kyiv because they can’t leave due to the army.

“One of my nephews is the leader of the Ukrainian Post Bank and he is there to help people so he’s dealing with folk suffering without money.

“What’s happening is more than appalling. There’s no words.

“War is always terrible. No one can justify it.”