Hundreds of Ukrainians rioted outside the Russian embassy in Kiev on Saturday night after pro-Russian separatists in the country's troubled east shot down an army transport plane, killing all 49 on board.
The protesters demanded that Russia admit to aiding the separatists, charges Moscow denies, and take steps to end the conflict in the east.
пикет хуйлопосольства
Some threw paint, rocks, petrol bombs, and Molotov cocktails. A few broke inside and screamed at Russian diplomats. Others smashed cars.
Посольство РФ около 20-00.
Russia was outraged.
Ukraine's acting foreign minister, Andrii Deshchytsia, attempted to calm protesters down. "We must fulfill our international obligations, including defending the right of Russia to have an embassy in Ukraine," he said.
Those in the furious crowd weren't having it. "Did I say that I am against you protesting? I am for you protesting," Deshchytsia continued. "I'm ready to stand here with you and say, 'Russia, get out of Ukraine! Yes, 'Putin khuilo,' he added.
View this video on YouTube
Deshchytsia was referring to a popular song that calls Putin a khuilo, which literally means "fucking hideous effigy" or "giant cock" but is best translated as "dickhead" or "fucker." Protesters then sang "Putin khuilo!" as Deshchytsia looked on, slightly bemused.
The song has swept the country since pro-unity soccer fans debuted it before a match in the city of Kharkiv in March.
View this video on YouTube
There's even a campaign to get foreign fans to sing it during Russia's matches at the World Cup in Brazil. (Ukraine didn't qualify.)
By Sunday, things had calmed down in Kiev.
Ворота российского посольства в Киеве 15 июня
But they were only getting started in Moscow, where pro-Kremlin activists quickly picketed the Ukrainian embassy overnight. Four people were arrested for throwing toilet paper at the U.S. embassy.
Прямо сейчас у посольства Украины в Москве начинают собираться люди с требованием #НетФашизму
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told his French counterpart Laurent Fabius that he was "over the inaction of the Kiev authorities who allowed the rioting outside the Russian embassy," according to a ministry statement.
Lavrov filed an official note of protest against the "bacchanalia" to Kiev on Sunday. Konstantin Dolgov, one of his deputies, said the incident "just goes to show the political culture, or rather, lack thereof, of the people in power in Kiev."
Russia's ambassador to Ukraine, Mikhail Zurabov, told state TV that the attack on the embassy had been "carefully planned."
"Poroshenko needs to change his foreign minister," Russian parliamentary foreign affairs chief Alexey Pushkov wrote on Twitter. "He's bad at controlling himself. He might get wasted without warning and barf all over the U.N. General Assembly."
Порошенко надо бы сменить своего министра иностр.дел. Он себя плохо контролирует.А то нажрется,неровен час, и всю Генассамблею ООН заблюет
Western governments also condemned the riot and called on Ukraine to uphold its international obligations to protect the embassy.
But the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine — who agreed when his boss, assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland, said "Fuck the EU" in a leaked phone conversation in February — praised Deshchtysia for helping end the riot.
@zikifa @j_parus Agree. Great credit to @ADeshchytsia for seeking to defuse a dangerous situation. A skilled diplomat and credit to #Ukraine
"Oof, they shouldn't be legalizing weed," Russia Today head Margarita Simonyan wrote of Pyatt's comment.
Американский посол про известную сентенцию Дешицы написал, что Дешица проявил себя как искусный дипломат. Ох, зря они травку легализуют.
"My statement was a way to show my discontent peacefully," Deshchtysia told Russian radio, before backtracking and claiming he hadn't made a "statement."
"The main thing was that we managed to stop the violence and provocations outside the Russian embassy," Deshchytsia wrote on Sunday. "But if Russian aggression continues, it's going to be harder to do."
Головне, що вчора вдалося зупинити насильство і провокації біля посольства РФ. Але,якщо російська агресія триватиме,це буде робити все важче