Ukraine crisis: Russian ambassador to Poland hit with red paint

Russia’s ambassador to Poland was splattered with red paint thrown at him by protesters opposed to the war in Ukraine, preventing him from paying respects on Monday at a Warsaw cemetery to Red Army soldiers who died during World War II.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced the attack, saying on her messaging app channel that “we won’t be scared” while the “people of Europe should be scared to see their reflection in a mirror”.

Ambassador Sergey Andreev arrived at the Soviet soldiers’ cemetery to lay flowers on Victory Day, which marks the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Allies. The major Russian patriotic holiday was celebrated with pomp in a parade at Red Square in Moscow.

As he arrived at the Soviet Military Cemetery in the Polish capital, Andreev was met by hundreds of activists opposed to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The protesters first snatched away a wreath of flowers that he had intended to lay at the cemetery and trampled it. Red paint was thrown from behind at him before a protester standing beside him threw a big blob of it in his face.

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The protesters carried Ukrainian flags and chanted fascists” and “murderers” at him, in Russian, while some were dressed in white sheets smeared with red, symbolizing the Ukrainian victims of Russia’s war. Other people in his entourage were also seen splattered with what appeared to be red paint.

Zakharova said that “admirers of the neo-Nazis have once again shown their face”. She said that along with the removal of monuments to Soviet army World War II heroes, the attack reflected the “course for the reincarnation of fascism.”

While Poland has removed some monuments to the Red Army in the decades since it threw off Moscow-backed communist rule, it has allowed the cemetery to remain undisturbed.