Ukrainian nationalists broke into the Kyiv office of the Russian government’s center of culture and science, Rossotrudnichestvo, on Feb. 17.
The nationalists tore apart and burnt a Russian flag, calling on the Russian federal agency to leave Ukraine. They also met with Rossotrudnichestvo-Ukraine Chief Konstantin Soloviev and argued with him for 30 minutes. Protestors covered the building’s walls with political graffiti, including slogans like “Death to Russia” and “FSB out,” and “Freedom to Sentsov.”
Three nationalist organizations, including C14, Right Sector, and Tradition and Order, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine, prompting a four-year war that has killed more than 10,000 has sparked outrage among Ukrainians, triggering periodic attacks on organizations associated with the Russian state.
Police arrived at the scene but failed to prevent the vandalism.
So-called right forces entered the building of Rossotrudnichestvo. For now, they’ve covered the walls with writing; talking to the employees.
According to Ukrainian news website Strana.ua, citing to witnesses at the scene, children and adults from Rossotrudnichestvo’s theatrical studio rehearsing inside the premises. Rossotrudnichestvo — a counterpart of such organizations as British Council, Goethe-Institut, or Institut français — also had an exhibition dedicated to Russian opera singer Feodor Chaliapin going on.
The radicals had already left the building as of this writing. Nobody was injured, reports indicated.
In August 2017, Rossotrudnichestvo-Kyiv announced it selected 70 Ukrainian students for its “Hello Russia!” educational program, sending those chosen to study in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Later, the center reported that a group of young Ukrainian artists had left Kyiv for Veliky Novgorod.
Responding to this, Head of Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, Vasily Hrytsak instructed law enforcement agents “to take care of the situation” around sending Ukrainian students to Russia. Ukraine’s Ministry of Education, however, stated that there’s no legal right to prohibit this.
