For almost four months, Russia has reduced Ukraine to rubble and brought death, suffering and destruction to the neighboring country. And he still finds time for his clumsy taunts against the West.
Latest example: The square in front of the US Embassy in Moscow is now being renamed – after the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR). A provocation that the USA should not like. Because the move will force the US embassy to refer to the DPR when stating its address, which Washington (and the rest of the free West) does not recognize as an independent state.
June 2020: The USA can also provoke! A rainbow flag is demonstratively hung at the American embassyPhoto: imago images/ITAR-TASS
A corresponding decree for renaming was published on Wednesday by the city administration. The initiative for renaming came from the Moscow City Duma.
The final name was determined via an online survey – however, in addition to the DPR, only “the defenders of the Donbass” and the separatist Vladimir Shoga, who fell in March, were available for selection. From the outset, the move was aimed at angering Washington. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov publicly supported the plan.
Such a provocation of diplomats is not a new phenomenon of the Ukraine war. In Washington, the square in front of the Russian embassy was renamed Boris Nemtsov Plaza (after the English transcription) in 2018 – after Boris Nemtsov, a Russian opposition politician who was shot dead in 2014. Moscow reacted angrily to this.
The Czech capital Prague followed suit by naming Nemtsov Square 2020 in front of the Russian Embassy. A path leading past the embassy was also named after Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist critical of the Kremlin who was also shot.
The Russian embassy then used a consulate building for its address designation for a long time. After the start of the war against Ukraine, the Prague authorities changed the name of the street here as well. Since then it has been called “Street of Ukrainian Heroes”.
The current change of address farce is just another example of the completely chilled relationship between the US and Russia. Putin’s chain dog Dmitry Medvedev (56) also recently made it clear how he assesses the connection between the two countries.
In the messenger service Telegram he wrote scornfully: “We currently have no relations with the USA. They are at zero on the Kelvin scale.” Referring to possible nuclear disarmament talks, he said there was no need for that. Medvedev: “It’s bad for Russia.” The US should “crawl up and ask for it.”