Russia Protests to Sweden Over Paint Attack on Trade Mission

Russia has summoned Sweden's ambassador to protest a paint attack on the Russian trade mission in Sweden. – The ambassador will be summoned, said Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, on Sunday. Russia blames Swedish authorities for a series of attacks on Russian diplomatic targets over the past year.

Sweden's ambassador in Moscow is being summoned to Russia's Foreign Ministry following a drone attack with red paint on the Russian trade mission in Lidingö, outside Stockholm.

This was reported by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti on Sunday.

The ambassador will receive a diplomatic protest.

Strong Protests

Maria Zakharova, a high-profile spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, who now tells RIA Novosti that the ambassador will be summoned, has previously condemned Sweden in strong terms. After a paint attack in May, she said that the Russian embassy in Sweden operates under "war-like conditions."

– This was the fifteenth drone attack since May 2024. This means that illegal acts are committed once a month or even more often – with the apparent consent, or possibly approval, of Swedish authorities, she told the Russian news agency Tass at the time.

Russia's trade mission in Lidingö was subjected to a paint attack at 3:30 AM on Saturday night, according to Russia's embassy in Stockholm, which writes on its website:

"A drone dropped a container of paint on the ground in front of the main entrance... Similar assaults on Russia's embassy and trade mission have occurred for over a year."

Police Investigate Vandalism

The police in Stockholm confirm that they sent a patrol to the scene and that it could ascertain that there was red paint on the building.

– There was red paint on the house, we are investigating vandalism, said police spokesperson Robert Sennerdal on Saturday.

The Swedish Foreign Ministry's press service wrote in a comment after the attack:

"Swedish authorities have an obligation to protect diplomatic missions and diplomatic personnel according to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. That an embassy in Sweden is subjected to vandalism is serious."