Mashudu Sadike and Betty Moleya
Pretoria - Security has been beefed up at the Russian Embassy in Pretoria after a handful of people hurled paint at its walls.
Sources said that at about midnight two weeks ago, a group of people threw paint balls at the Russian Embassy, defacing the walls. It is alleged that the defacing was committed by South Africans sympathetic to Ukraine.
This as Russia and Ukraine are engaged in the first war in Europe since 1945, which broke out after Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to attack Ukraine.
Putin said his “special military operation” was aimed at “demilitarising and denazifying” his neighbouring country – a motive rejected by the Ukrainian government and Western powers.
Russian embassy spokesperson, Alexender Arefiev, said that they were aware of the incident and promised to contact the Russian ambassador for comment.
On Friday SA Loves Ukraine, a group believed to be sympathisers of Ukraine, handed over a petition to the Russian Embassy during a peaceful march.
The group is calling on Putin to withdraw his forces from Ukraine.
The petition handed over to an unnamed Russian representative, read in part: “We demand and order you to cease all hostilities in Ukraine. We demand that you pay for reparations to Ukraine. We demand you to obey the Geneva Convention, UN Charters, and stop waging war on civilians.”
The movement even called on Putin to resign. Yanni Meyer, founder of SA Loves Ukraine, said they condemn both the war and the defacing of the Russian Embassy.
“It is a crime and Putin is bullying the world, but we also condemn any form of violence, especially in the wake of a group of people throwing red paint at the Russian Embassy. We denounce any violence”.
DA spokesperson on International Relations Darren Birdman also took part in the march.
Pretoria News