• Polish activists block Russia's ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreev, from laying flowers at a cemetery in Warsaw
• The demonstrators created an art installation that blocked Andreev's path
• The protesters also shouted at the Russian official's detail, calling them "Ruscists"

Polish activists blocked Russia's ambassador to Poland, Sergei Andreev, from laying flowers at a cemetery in Warsaw on Victory Day, the latest show of opposition to Moscow's war on Ukraine.

The protesters, pro-Ukraine, demanded Andreev take off his St. George's pin, a symbol of Russian aggression. Demonstrators also shouted "Ruscists" at the ambassador's detail, which was a mix of the words Russians and fascists.

Polish Activists Face Off with Russian Ambassador

The pro-Ukraine group, Euromaidan-Warszaw, revealed an art installation they created at the scene, with flags blocking Andreev's path. It also had mockups of buildings that Russia's military forces damaged in attacks against Kyiv's infrastructure. There were also crosses to honor the Ukrainian people that Russia killed since the invasion began.

The protesters said that if Andreev wanted to get to where he was trying to go, he would have to trample the flags and symbolically walk over dead Ukrainians. Video footage from the incident went viral across social media platforms, per the Daily Beast.

The posts showed Andreev being encircled by a crowd while outside the cemetery as protesters chanted amid the tense stand-off in the background. After a while, the Russian ambassador left the scene without being able to lay flowers at the mausoleum and instead chose to place them near the memorial, later calling the incident an "outrage."

In the same area last year, protesters doused the Russian ambassador to Poland with red liquid in a similar visit. Relations between Poland and Russia have grown increasingly tense in the past few months over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Warsaw has continued providing Ukraine with military aid to defend against Russia's aggression while welcoming Ukrainian refugees. The past few weeks have been especially chaotic as Polish authorities took control of a school building for Russian diplomats' children.

Read Also: EU Targets Nations That Aid Russia in Dodging Sanctions 

Criticizing Russia's War on Ukraine

In response to the incident, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that it was strongly criticizing the Polish government. According to the Associated Press, it argued that they had notified Warsaw in advance of their plans but claimed that they did not do enough to prevent such an incident.

In an official statement, the ministry said that the incident clearly showed the "duplicity of Warsaw's policy in assessing the events of World War II and trying to forget about our nation's role in saving European countries enslaved by Nazi Germany."

A member of Euromaidan, Viktoria Pogrebniak, said that the objective of the protest at the cemetery was to show that there are consequences for Russia's continued war against Ukraine. She argued that Moscow would indeed say that they were still trying to fight against fascism.

The pro-Ukraine group also called on the Polish government to expel Russia's ambassador from the region. She noted that while they cannot demand anything, they would continue to ask officials to send Russian diplomats home, said the Manila Bulletin.

Related Article: Putin Accuses West of Waging "Real War" Against Russia