‘We’re changing things’: Dayton’s Soviet-style vodka bar speaks out as current events unfold

Monday evening, Red Star posted the following statement to its public Facebook page:

“We’re changing things.

As of this moment, there are no finalized plans but they are in the works. But in the meantime, when we open tomorrow, Red Star will look a little different. We’re excited for the changes to come and hope you’ll bear with us while we enact them over the next several weeks.

In the meantime, a few things will stay the same:

We’ll still be open our regular hours.

We’ll still have pickle vodka.

We’ll still have free darts.

We’ll still have the dive bar ambiance.

And we’ll still try our best to provide an awesome place for you to enjoy.

-Chris and Alex”

Red Star is owned by Chris Wire, president of Real Art and founder of Proto BuildBar. Alex Todd is Red Star’s co-creator and bar manager.

As the invasion escalated last weekend, Red Star issued the following statement on Friday, Feb. 25, posted with an image of the Ukrainian flag:

“We are heartbroken by what is happening across the globe.

Our thoughts are with those affected by the despicable actions of the Russian government: the citizens of Ukraine who are heroically giving their lives for their country, the Russian citizens who risk their lives protesting their autocratic government, and the whole of Europe and the rest of the World, where we have all been thrust back into a feeling of fear and instability not seen for 30 years.

We do not support the Russian government. We support human rights, freedom of speech, and fair democratic elections. And we eternally hope for peace.

Slava Ukraini!”

Red Star was not immediately available for comment at the time of this report. We will update this story as soon as more information is available.

“I think I’ve said it’s (a) cross between the opulence of Soviet-era Kremlin and a punk rock dive bar ... a space that only your Ukrainian grandmother could fully appreciate and love,” Wire told us in 2020. “There’s not much around here like it. It will be a place to come and have a great time with friends. There’s a great sound system and a turntable (and) vinyl that guests can select themselves. We have four legit real dart boards ... they didn’t have fancy electric dart machines in Russia in the ‘70s and neither do we.”