The Russian Ambassador to Poland has been attacked by protestors as he attended a World War Two memorial service in the country.
Sergei Andreev was at a war memorial in the city of Warsaw when he was heckled by protestors and then covered in red paint, in response to Russia's brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine.
He was initially stopped from entering the cemetery at the war memorial by protestors shouting 'fascist' and waving Ukrainian flags, but made it inside, during which time he was hit with the paint.
Police later said that the ambassador was not injured, and they eventually dispersed the crowd.
Poland is a strong ally of Ukraine and NATO and has been delivering weapons to the Ukrainian forces fighting the Russian invaders. The country also has a tense history with Russia, being invaded once by the Russian Empire in the early 20th century and again in 1939 by the then Soviet Union. Poland was liberated by the Soviets from Nazi rule in 1945, but the Polish regime under the communist party maintained strong links to Moscow up until the formation of a democratic state in 1990. Many Poles have expressed fears that they could be a target for invasion by Russia should the Russians succeed in Ukraine.
A spokesperson for Russia's foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, released a bizarre statement in which she suggested that the West was collaborating with fascists to destroy the Soviet Union's war legacy and threaten modern Russia. Saying of the incident:
"Fans of neo-Nazism have once again bared their faces, and it is bloody."
"The demolition of monuments to the heroes of the Second World War, the desecration of graves, and now the disruption of the flower-laying ceremony on a holy day for every decent person prove the already obvious - the West has set a course for the reincarnation of fascism."
Victory Day was marked in Russia by a large military parade in Moscow overseen by Vladimir Putin. It was noted by some observers that he seemed uneasy on his feet and that he had been shaking. While sat, he had a blanket placed over his legs.
Rumours have long persisted that Putin is suffering from a long-term illness such as cancer, or a neurological disease such as Parkinson's. These rumours are fuelled by videos of him appearing uneasy, and by the extreme measures he has taken to avoid catching Covid-19.
[Based on reporting by: The Daily Mail]
COMMENTS