Ukraine Protesters Attack Russian Embassy in Kiev
KABUL: (MEP) Angry protesters have attacked the Russian embassy in Ukraine mainly twice in the last 24 hours, calling for the release of a Ukrainian hunger-striking chopper pilot ‘Nadezhda Savchenko’.
The embassy’s cars were torched overnight, followed by eggs and stones being thrown at the building.
The pilot is on trial in Russia after being captured while fighting pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Ms Savchenko is accused of directing artillery fire that killed two Russian journalists – a claim she denies.
After being on an 83-day hunger strike last year in protest for her detention and the lengthy process of her trial, she went on another strike, a dry one, on Thursday when she learned that a court session to deliver her final statement was postponed from March 3 to March 9.
A group of unknown people wearing balaclavas, armed with baseball bats, smashed three cars and threw flares and smoke bombs at the embassy in the early hours of Sunday, according to Oleg Grishin, spokesperson for the embassy.
Around 100 people gathered in front of the building and some began tossing eggs. People were waving Ukrainian flags and holding banners reading “Free Nadezhda”.
In response to the attack on the Russian embassy in Kiev, several dozen activists in Moscow gathered for a peaceful rally in front of the Ukrainian embassy, holding banners in support of Russian-Ukrainian relations. Some of the activists could not contain themselves and threw eggs at the Ukrainian embassy, but none managed to hit the building. Following a few hours of picketing, the demonstrators dispersed quietly on their own.
