Russian ambassador to Poland attacked with red paint
Warsaw, May 9: Russia's ambassador to Poland was splattered with red paint thrown at him by protesters opposed to the war in Ukraine, preventing him from paying respects on Monday at a Warsaw cemetery to Red Army soldiers who died during World War II.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced the attack, saying on her messaging app channel that we won't be scared while the people of Europe should be scared to see their reflection in a mirror.
Ambassador Sergey Andreev arrived at the Soviet soldiers' cemetery to lay flowers on Victory Day, which marks the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Allies.
The major Russian patriotic holiday was celebrated with pomp in a parade at Red Square in Moscow.
As he arrived at the Soviet Military Cemetery in the Polish capital, Andreev was met by hundreds of activists opposed to Russia's war in Ukraine.
The protesters first snatched away a wreath of flowers that he had intended to lay at the cemetery and trampled it.
Red paint was thrown from behind at him before a protester standing beside him threw a big blob of it in his face.
The protesters carried Ukrainian flags and chanted fascists and murderers" at him, in Russian, while some were dressed in white sheets smeared with red, symbolising the Ukrainian victims of Russia's war.
Other people in his entourage were also seen splattered with what appeared to be red paint.
Zakharova said that admirers of the neo-Nazis have once again shown their face. She said that along with the removal of monuments to Soviet army World War II heroes, the attack reflected the course for the reincarnation of fascism.
Some Russian commentators suggested that the attack on the ambassador could prompt Moscow to recall him and ask the Polish ambassador to leave.
The Polish government faced criticism for not providing the ambassador with more security, allowing for an incident to occur that Russia could use to depict Poland as hostile to Moscow.
Among the critics was a former interior minister, Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz, who said he couldn't understand why there wasn't more protection for the ambassador when for weeks you could feel how May 9 could end in Warsaw.
Poland's current interior minister, however, noted that Poland's government had advised the Russian ambassador against laying flowers at the cemetery, and noted that police allowed him to safely leave the scene.
The gathering of opponents of Russian aggression against Ukraine, where the crime of genocide takes place every day, was legal, Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski added.
The emotions of Ukrainian women taking part in the demonstration, whose husbands are fighting bravely in defense of their homeland, are understandable.
Protesters also marched in Warsaw on Sunday evening to protest the war, bringing a tank on a tractor and parking it in front of the Russian Embassy.
Since the war began on Feb. 24, images of Ukrainian tractors hauling off Russian tanks have been symbols of Ukrainian resistance.
The Soviet cemetery is set amid a vast park on the route linking downtown to the international airport.
It is the final resting place of more than 20,000 Red Army soldiers who perished on Polish soil fighting while helping to defeat Nazi Germany.
While Poland has removed some monuments to the Red Army in the decades since it threw off Moscow-backed communist rule, it has allowed the cemetery to remain undisturbed.
Though Soviet soldiers defeated the Nazis, earlier in the war the Soviet forces had invaded Poland following a secret agreement with the German Nazi government, and carried out atrocities against Poles, including mass executions and deportations to Siberia.
The Russian ambassador to Poland was attacked as he tried to lay a wreath at the Soviet soldiers' cemetery in Warsaw. pic.twitter.com/FFtBzuRITW
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Four held for Rs 33 lakh online investment fraud; interstate racket busted
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has busted an interstate cyber fraud syndicate involved in an online investment scam and arrested four persons, an official said on Saturday.
A crime branch team arrested the accused in a case where a victim was allegedly cheated of Rs 33.83 lakh on the pretext of lucrative returns through online trading platforms.
“Police said the accused lured victims with promises of high returns and later coerced them into depositing more money on the pretext of unlocking or withdrawing earlier investments,” the officer said.
Police said the racket operated across several states, including Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan, and used a network of mule bank accounts to route and layer the defrauded money to conceal its origin.
“During the investigation, the cheated amount was traced to 15 bank accounts. Thirteen of these accounts were registered outside Delhi, indicating the organised and interstate nature of the syndicate,” said the police officer.
The accused have been identified as Mohammad Khalid (26) and Atiur Rahman (23), both residents of Delhi, Ramandeep Singh (29) from Punjab, and Tanish alias Heera Ram (27) from Rajasthan.
According to the police, Khalid was arrested on March 15 and allegedly disclosed that he gave his bank account details and SIM card to a co-accused for a commission.
Rahman, who was already lodged in a jail in Haryana in a similar case, was later formally arrested. Ramandeep Singh was arrested on April 6 and allegedly admitted to sharing his account credentials for monetary gain.
Tanish was apprehended from Rajasthan on April 9 for facilitating the use of such accounts in the fraud network.
During the probe, officers analysed over 100 call detail records, IMEI data and transaction-related digital evidence to track the accused and establish the money trail.
Three mobile phones and SIM cards used in the crime have been recovered.
Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the syndicate and trace additional financial linkages, the police said.
