Irish man crashes truck through Russian Embassy gates as protests target Moscow’s diplomats in Western countries

Over the weekend, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “hoodlums have attacked Russian diplomatic missions in Canada, Estonia, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.” The ministry told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that a diplomat was attacked near the embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania. And protesters have reportedly thrown paint and sprayed graffiti on Russian missions in Israel, the United States and other places.

The ministry said Tuesday that it summoned Ireland’s ambassador to Russia, Brian McElduff, to discuss the truck-ramming incident in Dublin, which it called “a tactic widely used by terrorists.” It demanded an apology and compensation from Irish authorities, according to the state-owned Tass news agency.

A video of the incident in south Dublin shared by Irish broadcaster RTE News shows a large truck backing into the gates of the Russian Embassy as some onlookers cheer. Other videos posted on social media show the driver, who identifies himself as Desmond Wisley, handing out fliers with images of what he describes as victims of Russian forces in Ukraine, including a woman and two children. Pointing to the leaflets, he said, “I’ve done it for this lady here and her kids that were killed in an apartment … It really affected me.”

Irish police said they are “investigating an incident of criminal damage that occurred at a property on Orwell Road” on March 7 and have taken into custody a man, who will face charges at a Tuesday hearing.

The Russian Embassy said in a statement that Irish police officers “stood idle” during the incident, and it accused Ireland of violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. The convention says nations have a “special duty” to protect foreign diplomatic missions “against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.”

A spokeswoman for the Irish police said in an email to The Washington Post that the agency “does not comment on statements or remarks made by 3rd parties”

Protests against Russian invasion of Ukraine fill streets around the globe

In another statement posted on social media shortly after the first, the Russian Embassy softened its earlier criticism of the police response. It said “additional measures have been undertaken by the Garda [Ireland’s national police service] to ensure safety and security of the embassy and its personnel,” and it thanked Irish authorities for their “cooperation.”

In many Western countries, protests in support of Ukraine have been held outside Russian missions, with few major incidents reported.

On Feb. 28, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Canada’s ambassador to Russia, Alison LeClaire, to complain about what it said were “hostile demonstrations by aggressive elements in front of the Russian Embassy in Ottawa and also Russia’s consulates-general in Montreal and Toronto,” according to Russian news agency Tass.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday that its diplomatic missions have been attacked in seven countries, although it did not provide details about the alleged incidents. On Monday, the Russian Embassy in France said a Russian cultural center in Paris that is under diplomatic protection was attacked with a flammable object. Paris police confirmed the incident to local newspaper Le Parisien and said liquid and shards of glass were found on the ground, while a trash can was also set on fire close by.

In videos and photos, a timeline of Russia’s war on Ukraine

Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti that one of its diplomats in Lithuania “was attacked with the use of physical force.”

A spokesperson for the Lithuanian police told The Post in an email that a Russian diplomat was beaten in Vilnius on Feb. 24 — the day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — although it did not provide a motive. The “injured man did not need medical help,” the police said, and a suspect was detained.