Blood-red dye bath for ambassadors - Ukraine protest drives Putin envoy from cemetery

Created: 05/10/2022, 05:10

By: Andreas Schmid

Color attack on Russia's ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreyev.

© Leszek Szymanski/PAP/dpa

Actually, Putin's envoy in Poland wanted to lay a wreath on May 9th.

Demonstrators threw red liquid at him.

His face looked like it was covered in blood.

Warsaw - Russia's ambassador to Poland grabs his face and wipes a red liquid from his eye with his thumb.

At first glance it seems that Sergei Andreyev is bleeding profusely.

In fact, it is a different substance that poured over the Ambassador's head on Monday (9 May) at noon.

It's a protest against the Ukraine war.

Ukraine war: Demonstrators attack Russia's ambassador with paint

May 9th is one of the most important public holidays in Russia.

Moscow celebrated the end of the Second World War with a large military parade, but Russia was also present in other countries.

In Poland's capital Warsaw, a Russian delegation wanted to lay flowers for Soviet soldiers at the mausoleum cemetery in Warsaw.

Here lie the remains of more than 20,000 soldiers who fell fighting Nazi Germany in 1944 and 1945.

However, Polish and Ukrainian demonstrators awaited the group at the cemetery.

As the PAP news agency reports, the demonstrators initially shouted terms such as "murderer" or "fascists" in the direction of Andreyev and his companions.

Then the first splashes of liquid hit the Russian ambassador before a large blob of liquid landed on the ambassador's face.

The media network Nexta, an important voice for criticism in Belarus based in Warsaw, published the scenes on Twitter.

The ambassador and delegation returned to their official cars after the attack.

Ukraine war: Russia celebrates military parade - Putin justifies invasion

On May 9th, Russia celebrates Victory Day over Nazi Germany.

Russia's President used the date this year for a large military parade.

Of course, it was marked by the Ukraine war.

The Kremlin chief warned the West of a further escalation and a "global war".

In addition, Putin justified the Russian invasion with the expansion of NATO.

"Russia preemptively warded off the aggression, that was the only right decision," said Putin.

He once again accused the West of having armed “neo-Nazis” in Ukraine.

A feared escalation did not materialize, but Putin kept a rhetorical back door open.

Meanwhile, far away from the military parade, the Ukraine war continues.

Shortly after Putin's speech, Russia reported 200 attacks on Ukraine and hundreds of deaths within a few hours.