Russian Ambassador to Poland Sergey Andreev was attacked and doused with red substance while trying to lay a wreath at a cemetery of Soviet soldiers in Warsaw, a Sputnik correspondent reports.
Andreev arrived at the memorial cemetery of Soviet soldiers in the Polish capital, accompanied by diplomats and his wife. However, people who had gathered in advance on the territory of the cemetery blocked his path, shouting insulting slogans. They began to pour red substance on the ambassador and the people accompanying him.
The ambassador could not lay a wreath at the cemetery, as he left the place, accompanied by the local police, after the attack.
Later, Andreev explained that he was attacked with sweet red syrup at the wreath-laying ceremony.
"None of our employees were seriously injured. The only injury we sustained was to be drenched in syrup," the diplomat said. He added that he was able to work out that he'd been covered in syrup because the substance tasted sweet.
He said that the attack appeared as a manifestation of wildness, which runs counter to "the norms of civilized behaviour." The police could have foreseen the incident, but instead they took their time to arrive and handle the situation, the ambassador said.
Andreev said the embassy will lodge a protest following the attack on him at the cemetery.
Admirers of neo-Nazism have once again shown their faces - and it is bloody, but Russia cannot be intimidated, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, commenting on the attack on the Russian ambassador in Warsaw.
"A strong protest was expressed to the Polish authorities for indulging neo-Nazis … The Russian foreign ministry demanded that Warsaw immediately organize a wreath-laying ceremony, ensuring its complete safety from all kinds of provocations. We are trying to persuade the Polish side to take appropriate measures today," the ministry said in a statement, adding that the police were completely inactive.
Earlier, the Russian Embassy in Warsaw informed Polish Foreign Ministry of the plans to hold 9 May celebrations in the capital and urged the authorities to ensure public safety during the event. A public backlash followed, with the mayor of Warsaw Rafal Trzaskowski going so far as to say that "the celebration of the aggressor" should be banned altogether.
In turn, Polish Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Marcin Przydacz said on social media that Poland "did not plan to provide support to the Russian embassy and will not provide such support," noting that the Warsaw mayor has the final say in the matter of holding the celebration.
In turn, Polish Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Marcin Przydacz said on social media that Poland "did not plan to provide support to the Russian embassy and will not provide such support," noting that the Warsaw mayor has the final say in the matter of holding the celebration.
On Friday, someone threw a bottle into the window of one of the apartments housing Russian journalists in Berlin. An inspection of the building that followed found a suspicious object with a gas tank and wires, believed to be explosive. German sappers who were asked to the scene confirmed it to be an improvised explosive device and deactivated it on the spot.
The Russian side said that it could have been a terrorist attack against Russian journalists and their families.
The anti-Russian sentiment has been on the rise in the West since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February.