Relations between Russia and Poland are becoming increasingly frosty: Warsaw's ambassador in St. Petersburg has now been harassed and attacked by a group of Russians.
This is certainly not how Krzysztof Krajewski imagined his visit to St. Petersburg: The Polish ambassador traveled to the metropolis from Moscow on November 16 to meet with representatives of the Polish minority.
An incident then occurred on the magnificent Nevsky Prospekt boulevard, of all places, which Polish officials described as "the most serious incident of its kind in years" according to "TVP Polonia": a group of Russians attacked the diplomat. The Polish State Security Service repelled the attack.
The group held up banners with anti-Polish and anti-Ukrainian messages and tried to prevent Krajewski and Consul Jarosław Strycharski from attending a service at St. Catherine's Church.
The Russian activists also tried to beat the Polish diplomats. "It started with verbal abuse, but developed into a real attempt to use physical violence," confirmed Foreign Minister Maciej Wewiór. The "aggressive" group consisted of around ten men.