Bloody lakes, sirens under the windows and crushed tanks: global protests against the war in Ukraine

Russia's war in Ukraine has been going on for over a year. Every day, due to the actions of the Russian military, people die, and Ukrainian cities and villages are destroyed. However, there are still embassies and consulates of Russia in most countries. In each of them, Russian diplomats pretend to be civilized people. They wear modern suits and ties and give speeches at various events in which they talk about peace and humanitarian missions. In reality, each of them, being an official representative of their country, represents the interests of the biggest aggressor of the 21st century. They advance the goals of the Russian Federation abroad, spy on its behalf, and lie almost all the time.

Public pressure on the diplomatic missions of the Russian Federation helps the world not forget about Russia's crimes in Ukraine. That is why local authorities are renaming squares and streets near Russian embassies, and caring people are organizing protests and altars of shame.

In addition, active Ukrainians and foreigners find creative solutions to once again remind agents of Russia abroad that they represent a criminal country and their hands are also covered in blood. In this way, the world community is reminded of the crimes of the Russian Federation. Rubryka has collected the most striking examples of anti-Russian actions and demonstrations near the Russian embassy and consulates.

In 2022, the closed Russian consulate in Lviv was filled with household appliances and toilets

At the beginning of the full-scale war, people collected blood-stained household appliances near the former consulate of the Russian Federation in Lviv. The campaign "Russian Consulate — a monument to looting" was intended to show the true face of the Russian army and its nation. Under the building, which Russian diplomats occupied before the war, the things that the Russians stole en masse from Ukrainians during the war were brought. They were placed in front of the entrance and doused with red paint. Among them was even a doghouse, similar to which the occupiers also stole from a Ukrainian yard.

Similar action took place under the Russian Embassy in London in April 2022. Photo: Embassy of Ukraine to the UK

Activists held a similar action near the Russian embassy in London. "Russians have been stealing from Ukrainian people some common stuff like sneakers, irons, frying pans, hairdryers, and clothes. Londoners brought to the Russian Embassy all these things which Russians are desiring madly. Keep them to you and follow the russian warship," Ukraine's embassy to the UK wrote on Twitter.

Kazakh activists protested in support of Ukraine. Photo by masa.media

On the same days, activists went to the Russian consulate in Almaty with a commemorative action in honor of the residents of Bucha killed by the Russians. Several activists of the public movement Oyan, Qazaqstan laid down on the asphalt with their hands tied, referring to the terrible footage from the Ukrainian city, from which the whole world is still shuddering.

Then, in April 2022, the bodies of killed civilians were lying on the city streets after the departure of the Russian troops, many of whom had their hands tied. The Kazakh authorities did not like the action, so it did not last long. Three minutes later, the Kazakh activists were detained by the police. They were released later, but the leader of Kazakhstan still visits Putin.

A protest against Russian aggression in Ukraine was held in Tallinn. Photo: Priit Mürk/ERR

A protest against Russian aggression in Ukraine was held in Tallinn. About 20 women in red-stained "bloody" underwear gathered near the Russian Embassy building to draw the world's attention to the violence of Russian servicemen against Ukrainian women and children. "People who support this war thereby support war crimes, flagrant atrocities and are themselves participants in these acts," the protestors emphasized.

A reddened lake in front of the Russian Embassy in Vilnius was another demonstration against Russia's crimes. Photo: social networks

In the spring of 2022, an entire lake near the Russian embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania, turned blood-colored. The action was coordinated with the authorities and nature protection inspectors. The animals and plants in the lake were not harmed, which cannot be said about the reputation of the employees of the Russian diplomatic mission.

People's deputy Oleksii Goncharenko commented on the performance in Vilnius on his Telegram. He noted that now the diplomats of the Russian embassy can look at the pond full of blood before they are thrown out. By the way, literally three weeks later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic declared one of the diplomatic employees of the Russian Embassy in Prague persona non grata.In Poland, in May 2022, the ambassador of the Russian Federation was doused with red paint when he tried to lay a wreath at the monument to Soviet soldiers in Warsaw. Photo: Associated Press

On May 9, 2023, the ambassador of the aggressor country repeated his attempt to reach the monument and was again booed by the activists. They blocked the path of the Russian ambassador to the Soviet monument with a giant installation depicting war-damaged Ukrainian cities and symbolic graves of Ukrainians killed due to Russia's aggression. The flowers that the ambassador of the Russian Federation carried to the Soviet monument had to be left near the memorial dedicated to the memory of Ukrainians whom Russia killed.

On May 9, 2023, Russian diplomats in Warsaw woke up to the sound of a siren. Screenshot from the Euromaidan-Warszawa video

May 9, celebrated in Russia as a holiday commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, was not so pleasant for the Russian Ambassador to Poland, Sergey Andreev. On this day, activists of the public initiative Euromaidan-Warsaw at six in the morning came to the house in Warsaw where Russian diplomats live with their families. There, the Russians were woken up by an unexpected alarm. Right under the windows of the diplomats of the aggressor country, the sounds of air raids, shelling, and explosions were turned on.

"We want today's fascists to wake up from the consequences of their own actions. Let them listen to the sounds they used to wake up Ukrainians for nine years. We do not want to speak to their conscience, and we do not need any words or actions from diplomats representing the terrorist regime. We want only one thing: that they are eventually expelled from Poland because they have nothing to do with the civilized world," the activists emphasized.

Norwegian Kjetil Krane keeps Russian diplomats awake in a T-shirt with the inscription "Wake up Russian"

Diplomatic employees of the Russian embassy in Norway also wake up to the sounds of sirens. In Oslo, 73-year-old Norwegian Kjetil Krane found out where the employees of the Russian embassy live and now brings speakers to their windows every night.

"Children in Ukraine have to wake up all year long from the wail of sirens. Let these ones not sleep a little," says the Norwegian. He assures that he is not afraid of arrest. Before starting his campaign, he officially informed his neighbors, who live in the same building where Russian diplomats live, about his intentions.

David Fraser spends the night in his blue and yellow Tesla outside the Russian consulate in Edinburgh. Photo: edinburghlive.co.uk

In Scotland, Russian diplomats also feel uneasy. Outside the Russian consulate in Edinburgh's West End, Scottish activist David Fraser spends the night in his blue-and-yellow Tesla. As a sign of protest against the war in Ukraine, he plays Ukrainian music on external speakers.

The father of five children says he is disappointed that the Russian consulate is still open. He hopes that by his actions, he will be able to raise awareness among Europeans about Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, even though some people are allegedly tired of hearing about the war.

Fraser first visited Ukraine in 1997 and has visited the country regularly since then. Since February 24, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he joined the Cars For Ukraine organization, returns to Ukraine every month, and brings cars for the front line.

Despite the unwillingness of the authorities, the activists managed to hold the exhibition

On the anniversary of the armed attack of the Russian Federation on Ukraine, a battered Russian T-72 tank, destroyed at the end of March 2022 in the Bucha area, was placed in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin. It was installed by activists Enno Lenze and Wieland Giebel.

"We want to put this junk at the door of the terrorists," Gibela wrote on Twitter.

The Ukrainian Historical Museum helped to transport from Ukraine to Berlin a tank blown up by a mine of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Its transportation took several months. The problems were not so much with logistics as with local authorities and the community. They found a lot of reasons why such an action should not be held — from the unwillingness to scare refugees from Syria to the impossibility of transporting a tank through road tunnels due to its size. In the end, the activists solved the problem through the administrative court, which allowed the exhibition.

Each nail driven into Putin's effigy symbolizes the small contribution each could make in these circumstances to stop a terrible war crime

In February, an effigy of Putin was installed near the Russian embassy in Riga, into which anyone could drive a nail. The action was organized by the artist Artur Berzinsh. As the artist explained, the nail driven by each participant symbolizes the small contribution each could make in these circumstances to stop a terrible war crime. Judging by the photos on social networks, many people were willing to drive the nail into the head of the Moscow dictator, as a result of which he began to look like a voodoo doll.

A bloody performance was staged in front of the Russian Embassy in Prague. Photo: Hlas Ukrajiny

In the Czech Republic, the essence of the Russian Federation was reminded with a bloody performance. The action, reminding of the murders of Ukrainians, took place in Prague in front of the Russian embassy. A yellow-blue inflatable pool was filled with red paint, and a woman in a kokoshnik, a traditional Russian headdress with the letter Z, was bathing in it. The red paint symbolized the blood of Ukrainians, which the Russian occupiers have been shedding for more than a year as part of their special operation, as they call it.

This is not the first bloody action that the Russian embassy in the Czech Republic has seen. In March of 2022, the walls of the Russian Embassy in Prague were covered with red paint, thereby starting the Bloody Moon campaign. Its purpose is to draw the world's attention to the horrors of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Representatives of the City Council of Kraków renamed the square where the Russian embassy is located into the Square of Free Ukraine. Photo: Kraków.pl

In Krakow, Poland, the workers of the Russian Consulate have been forced to see the Free Ukraine Square from their windows for a year. The address of the consulate is now called the same. "This is our humble gesture in view of the enormous strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people," commented the head of the Krakow City Council, Rafał Komarewicz, on the renaming of the square, which was previously unofficially called Episkopska.

In Riga, the Russian Embassy in Latvia is officially located on Independent Ukraine Street

In Prague, the embassy of the Russian Federation has long been located not on Koronatsiana Street but on Ukrainian Heroes Street. The Russian Embassy in Riga, Latvia, is located on Independent Ukraine Street, in Tirana, Albania — on Free Ukraine Street, and in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Heroes of Ukraine Street.

Russian diplomats have long been expelled from various European countries because they are engaged in espionage. After the invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, the number of expelled diplomatic mission workers increased many times. From the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation until the end of 2022, the countries of the European Union expelled almost 500 Russian diplomats and administrative employees.

This process continues to this day. Thus, in February, Austria expelled four Russian diplomats from the country: two diplomats of the Russian embassy who committed actions incompatible with their diplomatic status, as well as two diplomats of the Permanent Mission of Russia to the UN.

In April, five diplomats of the Russian Federation were expelled from the country by the Swedish authorities. In an interview with SVT Nyheter, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country, Tobias Billström, stated that their activities are incompatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Following Sweden, Norway declared 15 employees of the Russian embassy who were de facto engaged in espionage under diplomatic cover as undesirable persons.

In the same month, the German government decided to expel at least 30 employees of Russian embassies from the country. They are suspected of being able to use diplomatic immunity to illegally recruit German informants in politics, business, science, and the armed forces. Moreover, at the end of May, the German authorities decided to revoke the work permit of four out of five Russian consulates.

In June, Romania accepted the baton — 50 employees of the Russian embassy are to leave the country. It looks like the civilized world wants as little as possible in common with savages capable of unleashing a bloody war against a peaceful neighbor in the 21st century. 

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