The Russian ambassador to Poland was attacked with red paint by pro-Ukraine activists in Warsaw on Monday, 9 May, during Russia's Victory Day celebrations that marked the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Ambassador Sergey Andreev was doused with paint by people carrying Ukrainian flags chanting “Fascists," as the envoy was laying a wreath commemorating Red Army soldiers at the Soviet soldiers cemetery in the Polish capital, reported The Kyiv Independent.
Videos of the incident circulated on social media show protesters sporting Ukraine's flag surrounding the envoy and his entourage, as a demonstrator splatters paint on Andreev's face. The ambassador, however, does not respond to the protesters.
"In Warsaw, during the laying of a wreath at the cemetery of Soviet soldiers, an attack was carried out on the Russian ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, and the Russian diplomats accompanying him," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova was quoted as saying by Moscow Times.
The protesters prevented the ambassador and others from laying their flowers at the cemetery, as per an Independent report. Andreev told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that he was not seriously harmed in the attack.
This comes as the Russian war on Ukraine, which began on 24 February, nears completing three months amid widespread global censure.
Poland, which has accepted over a million refugees from Ukraine since the Russian aggression, has strongly criticised President Vladimir Putin's actions.
In a recent interview with Euronews, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Putin is a "war criminal" who is committing "genocide" in Ukraine and the European Union must not resume "business as usual" with Russia as long as he remains in power.
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