Russian media was abuzz recently over the story of a group of Ukrainians who presented a cake bearing an obscenity to a Russian children’s center in Winnipeg, Canada on June 20. Russian media outlets Pravda and RT described the group as “hooligans” in articles titled “Ukrainian nationalists in Canada bring children cake with swear word on it.” Video later circulated heavily under the provocative title “Ukrainian Nationalists stormed the Russian Children’s Center.”
“The Ukrainian nationalists stepped on the private territory illegally. Specifically, they entered the school, where children were staying. This suggests that the Ukrainian nationalists do not comply with the laws, nor do they care about the safety of children. A children’s school is not a place for political protests,” Russian activists wrote in an appeal of the incident.
Ukrainian activists displaying an anti-Putin poster during the protestThe actual story, however, paints a clear picture of what would have otherwise been a bizarre form of protest.
According to the Ukrainian community activists, the group intended to protest Russian military aggression and the death of 49 servicemen in Luhansk by intercepting the representative of the Consulate General of Russia who, according to the Consulate’s website, was to be on location for passport renewals of Russian citizens. The Consulate’s website did not state that the venue, located at a public shopping mall, doubled as a Sunday school.
With the school year being over, no children were actually present at the location: only those adults waiting for passports.
Omitted from reports were also the group’s large “Bloody killer” poster displaying a graphic of Vladimir Putin, as well as photographs displaying Ukrainian victims killed servicemen of the ongoing war with Russia.
The full update and rest of the story can be read here.
