Today, December 24, at about 3 am, an unknown person threw a bottle of flammable liquid into the fence of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Lviv. This was reported in the press service of the police in Lviv region. This comes a day after Russian President gave a rambling press conference on what he might or might not plan to do regarding Ukraine, a country which he has been partially invading since Ukraine’s 2014 Revolution of Dignity.
Footage: Molotov cocktail, a kind of petrol bomb, thrown by unknown man at Russian consulate in Lviv, Ukraine.
— OSINT Insider (@OSINT_Insider) December 24, 2021
Russia's foreign ministry has termed the incident as an "act of terrorism". https://t.co/tVnXC0GfPC pic.twitter.com/FLkoO7cW2f
From Twitter: a video of the western Christmas Eve incident
The past weeks, Ukrainians who have fought against Russia-backed rebels in the Donbas region have pushed authorities to evict the Russian consulate from Lviv, on the grounds that it houses spies. Amid global rumors of Russian preparation to invade Ukraine further, the veterans want to initiate searches in the office on the street Kostya Levitskoho, 95, where the consulate is located, and evict the Russian mission from there.
The Kremlin has asked the Ukrainian charge d’affaires in Moscow to ensure the attack is investigated. According to Russian state English-language news website Tass, the Russian embassy in Kyiv seemed to put the blame, without evidence, on Ukraine, calling it a «dangerous incident on the part of the Ukrainian authorities.»
Tass quoted the embassy’s statement:
«‘This egregious and unacceptable act is a result of stoking anti-Russian hysteria in Ukraine and inciting hatred and enmity toward the Russian Federation,’ the ministry said, adding that no one was hurt.»
The state media refers to Lviv as «Lvov,» the Russian spelling of the city, a reminder of when the western Ukrainian city was occupied by the Soviets.
The day before, 23 December, Russian president Vladimir Putin gave a long press conference, in Ukraine seemed less the aggressor and more of a geopolitical football between Nato and Russia:
«Our actions,» Putin said, «will depend not on the further discussions, but on the unconditional guarantee of Russia’s security. Further eastward movement of NATO is unacceptable for Russia.»
Read more: Lviv Now’s analysis of Putin’s 23 December press conference
Putin also spoke about the development of friendly relations with China, in particular in the field of «innovative weapons.»
Meanwhile, the investigative and operative group of the Lviv District Police Department №1 worked at the scene of the consulate. Investigators opened a criminal case under Art. 296 (Hooliganism) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. No one was injured in the incident, no damage was done to the diplomatic mission.
Read more: «‘Russia Took Our Data’: Lviv Developer Makes Alternative To Russian-Apps Used by Ukrainian Troops»
Currently, law enforcement officers are establishing the circumstances of the incident and the identity of the perpetrator involved in the commission of a criminal offense, conducting a pre-trial investigation.
In November, Lviv officials charged a Ukrainian veteran of the ongoing seven year war with Russia after he got in a fight over Soviet paraphernalia at the city’s open-air book market.
It will be recalled that Tvoemisto.tv found out whether Ukraine is ready for modern provocations or whether the crisis on the Belarusian-Polish border is part of the investigation into the plan of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Read more about all this in an interview with Ostap Kryvdyk, a political scientist-activist and associate researcher at the UCU Analytical Center.
By Joe Lindsley
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Lviv Now is an English-language website for Lviv, Ukraine’s «tech-friendly cultural hub.» It is produced by Tvoe Misto («Your City») media-hub, which also hosts regular problem-solving public forums to benefit the city and its people.
