TOPIC: 'Fascist Murderer' - Russian Ambassador to Poland Drenched in Red Paint
The Russian Ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev, was doused in red paint by Polish protestors, angered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The incident occurred at a Warsaw cemetery dedicated to Soviet soldiers who perished during World War Two.
'Fascist Murderer'
Ambassador Andreev was on his way to lay flowers at the Soviet cemetery to commemorate 'Victory Day', which in Russia and other post-Soviet states marks the defeat of Nazi Germany 77 years ago. Upon his arrival, Andreev was greeted by masses of activists out in protest against Russian aggression in Ukraine. The protesters waved Ukrainian flags and chanted 'fascist' and 'murderer' at Andreev and his entourage, with the tension escalating until a large volume of red paint was thrown from behind, covering the ambassador and his colleagues. Earlier on the Monday, the words 'Kill Putin' were found written in the Ukrainian colours of yellow and blue across a monument at the cemetery, though they were later removed.
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| Ambassador Andreev covered in red paint. Image Source: Sky News |
Andreev stated afterwards that "We [Russia] will make a formal protest. When they recommended that we not hold a larger event, we met them halfway, we didn't aggravate the situation", before going on to state that neither he nor any members of his team were seriously hurt. The Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was however less conciliatory, stating on telegram that "The admirers of neo-Nazism have shown their faces." Here, Zakharova repeated the absurd Kremlin line that asserts the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a battle against Nazi forces, despite Ukraine being led by a Jew and having suffered mass losses of life during the Nazi German invasion. Poles will equally frown upon the accusation, having suffered tremendously under Nazi occupation. Protests elsewhere in the capital of Warsaw continued throughout the day, marching to the Russian embassy and depositing a tank ferried by a tractor by the buildings entrance. The tractor being in reference to the hauling away of Russian tanks following the botched Russian advance on Kyiv earlier last month.
For anyone keeping up with recent events, the attack on the ambassador will not come as a shock. Poland has been leading the European response to Russian aggression, in both sanctions, military support for Ukraine and the acceptance of over three million Ukrainian refugees. Support for Ukraine and abhorrence for Putin's Russia is strongly felt, both in government and across the general public. And for Poland, unlike western states, the memories of Russian oppression, colonialism, betrayal and violence are real and ingrained within the national psyche. In the 1790s, Polish independence in the form of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was destroyed, with the nation partitioned between the Russian, Austrian and German Empires. Russia took the largest slice, including the capital of Warsaw. Under Russian rule the Polish nation was brutally exploited, even more so than under neighbouring Austrian and German rule. When Poland finally became free following the conclusion of World War One in 1918, free Poland was quickly at war again with Russia, but this time repelled the Muscovites. This freedom was however not to last, with Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia once again dividing Poland between them in 1939 with the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. With World War Two drawing to a close, Polish rebels rose up in Warsaw, only for the Soviet's to abandon the uprising, apparently deliberately so, to ensure that Poland would come under communist rather than democratic control in any post-war settlement. In post-war Europe, vast portions of historical Polish territory were absorbed by Russia, with the remaining Polish state merely a satellite of Moscow, until freedom came in 1989.
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| A Map illustrating the joint Nazi-Soviet Russian invasion of Poland in 1939. Image Source: Poland IN |
With the history of Russian and Nazi oppression, it is no wonder Poland stands as a giant against Putin's aggression, whilst more so, it makes Zakharova's accusations of 'neo-Nazism', against Polish protesters even more absurd.
Image Source: https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-russian-ambassador-has-red-paint-thrown-in-face-by-protesters-in-poland-12609367
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