The attack on Polish ambassador to Russia Krzysztof Krajewski took place during his trip to St. Petersburg on Sunday. Krajewski came to St. Petersburg to meet with the local Polish community on the occasion of Poland's Independence Day. At the time of the attack, Krajewski was heading to a service at the Basilica of St. Catherine of Alexandria on Nevsky Prospekt, accompanied by consul Jarosław Strycharski.
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Who was attacked in St. Petersburg?
What organization was associated with the attackers?
What was the ambassador doing during the attack?
What were the effects of the conservation intervention?
— The ambassador was surrounded by “an aggressive group of about ten people with banners,” said Maciej Wewiór, spokesman for the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. — They wanted to move from verbal attacks to physical assault, but they were stopped by the State Protection Service.
The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the event “the most serious incident of this type in many years.” “Only the intervention of security guards prevented the ambassador from being beaten,” the source told Gazeta Wyborcza.
On Monday, a report on the attack was published on local TV in St. Petersburg. The video shows the ambassador's security pushing away three young people who were obstructing the diplomat's passage, but they continued to follow the ambassador into the basilica. One of the activists holds a poster in his hands: “When will you and your authorities stop sponsoring and arming Ukraine?” In the video, the attackers can be heard calling the ambassador a “terrorist”. The report was titled “A warm welcome: the visit of Polish ambassador Krzysztof Krajewski to St. Petersburg once again ended in scandal.”
At the end of the report, TV showed a short conversation with activist Vadim, who complained about the destruction of “hundreds of monuments to Soviet soldiers-liberators” in Poland. The video shows the activist struggling with the ambassador's security, trying to get to Krajewski.
Activist Wadim is a 21-year-old member of the Volunteer Company Vadim Yamshchykov. In October 2023, he was among the group of volunteers from St. Petersburg, awarded honorary decorations and diplomas at the annual forum of the pro-Kremlin World Russian People's Council. The event was also attended by Orthodox oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, chairman of the legislative assembly of St. Petersburg Alexander Bielski, Metropolitan Varsonofiusz of St. Petersburg and the head of the department of the Chancellery of the President of Russia for monitoring and analysis of social processes Alexander Kharychev.
Vadim YamshchykovAgency
The next participant in the attack on the ambassador was a 23-year-old man Alexander Rybakov. Previously, he appeared in photos from the Volunteer Company's action in Mariupol, in the organization's photo reports from a trip with humanitarian aid in Donbas and from participation in the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg organized by the Kremlin.
Alexander Rybakov during the Russian “humanitarian operation” in DonbasWikimedia Commons
The Volunteer Company is a pro-Kremlin organization whose members engage in various “patriotic” events. The organization has repeatedly received money from the presidential fund and regional authorities. The founder of the Volunteer Company is Anton Demidov, a member of the Kremlin's United Russia party.
Activists of the Volunteer Company have recently become famous for breaking up demonstrations of conscripts' wives who are demanding the return of their husbands from the war in Ukraine.
