The Russian Consulate in New York City was vandalized overnight with red spray paint, New York Police Department officials confirmed Friday.
Authorities are investigating the vandalism as a possible “bias” attack after receiving a 911 call about the incident at around 1:30 a.m. Officers responding to the scene discovered that the facade of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in New York on Manhattan’s Upper East Side had been covered in red paint, an NYPD spokesman told Insider.
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Two people in black clothing and black masks were captured on surveillance footage vandalizing the building, according to the spokesman. Both people were clutching a backpack. No arrests have been made so far.
No group has claimed responsibility for the vandalism, which occurred hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed parts of Ukraine as part of the conflict in the neighboring country. U.S. and Ukrainian officials have rejected the annexation order.
“The United States — I want to be very clear about this — the United States will never, never, never recognize Russia’s claims on Ukraine’s sovereign territory,” President Joe Biden said Friday. “The so-called referenda was a sham, an absolute sham. The results were manufactured in Moscow.”
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Russia’s embassy in Washington, D.C., was a frequent target of protests at the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. Protesters pained the word “murder” in large red letters on a driveway outside of the embassy shortly after Russian forces invaded in February.
In March, protesters placed a sign in front of the embassy that “renamed” the street “President Zelensky Way” after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. An image of the Ukrainian flag was projected onto the Russian Embassy in April, according to the Hill.
