Moscow Urges Kiev to Promptly Investigate Attacks on Russian Consulates

The Russian Foreign Ministry insists on a prompt investigation into a recent attack on the Russian consulate in Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, the ministry's press service said Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Last week, on the eve of June 12, Russia Day, a group of protesters attacked the Russian consulate, blocking the entrance to the building, chanting anti-Russian slogans, damaging diplomatic vehicles, smashing windows, throwing eggs and spraying paint at the building's exterior. Immediately after the incident, the Russian Foreign Ministry called on Kiev to thoroughly investigate the attack and compensate for the damage caused.

"We insist that Ukraine’s inquiry into these provocations be finalized as soon as possible, and [demand] that the perpetrators be prosecuted," the ministry's press-service said in a statement.

The ministry expressed hope that the Ukrainian side would do its best to investigate the incident.

The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that Ukraine has yet to provide Moscow with the results of an investigation into the June 2014 attack on the Russian Embassy in Kiev by an angry crowd. Protesters tore up the Russian flag, overturned cars and threw various objects at the building. No diplomats were injured in the incident.

Just two days after the attack in Kiev, hundreds of protesters, some of them wearing symbols of the radical Right Sector group, gathered outside the Russian consulate in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, demanding that the Russian flag be taken down. The rally resulted in a brawl with police officers.

Kiev authorities, backed up by the West, blame Moscow for escalating the conflict in the east of Ukraine, but Russia has denied the allegations, making efforts to facilitate a political solution to the conflict.