Russian consulate in NYC vandalized as Ukraine applies for 'accelerated' NATO membership

30 September 2022

Although the invasion of Ukraine has not been going well for Russia, President Vladimir Putin has stubbornly vowed to move ahead with the conflict. The invasion has intensified anti-Putin feelings not only in Europe, but in the United States as well. And early Friday morning, September 30, the Russian Consulate of New York City was targeted for vandalism.

A spokesperson for the New York Police Department told The Hill that the vandals defaced the Consulate using red spray paint.

The Hill’s Julia Shapero reports, “Police responded to a call just after 1:30 a.m. on Friday that the facade of the Russian Consulate on the Upper East Side had been vandalized. No arrests were made, and the NYPD is continuing to investigate what it has deemed a ‘possible bias incident,’ the spokesperson said. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties of annexation for four Ukrainian regions on Friday, further escalating his war with Ukraine after seven months of fighting. The move has been deemed illegal by the United States and its allies.”

According to Shapero, “At the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., was frequently the target of protests. A driveway outside of the embassy was painted with the word ‘murder’ in large red letters, just after Russian forces invaded in February. Protesters also placed a sign in front of the Russian Embassy in early March, unofficially renaming the street ‘President Zelensky Way,’ and projected the Ukrainian flag onto the Russian Embassy in April.”

The attack on the Russian Consulate in Manhattan comes at a time when Ukraine has decided to apply for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is something that Putin has been dreading. Putin has feared the expansion of NATO, and earlier this year, Sweden and Finland applied for membership — a move that President Joe Biden applauded. And now, Ukraine is not only applying for membership in NATO; the application is for an "accelerated accession" into the defensive alliance.

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