“He was just shocked”: Russia’s UN ambassador walked out of diplomatic event after seeing Lviv craft beer

At a beer lovers’ informal club for permanent UN representatives in New York, a tasting of Ukrainian products took place. Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, left the event early after seeing the label of a craft beer from Lviv, says Svetlana Melnyk, the wife of Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Andrii Melnyk.

She said the event was held as part of a diplomatic beer club where products from different countries are periodically presented.

Ukraine presented beer featuring image of burning Kremlin

“Every few months they gather and taste beer from different countries. Ukraine, of course, could not stay aside,” Melnyk wrote.

According to her, they reached out to acquaintances who import Ukrainian beer to the United States, and they kindly provided samples of their products for the presentation, including various craft beers from the Lviv brewery “Pravda.”

“Among them, the beer ‘Syla’ stood out, featuring a red silhouette of the Kremlin with its towers falling apart, above which proudly flies the Ukrainian blue-and-yellow flag,” she noted.

Unexpected appearance

Melnyk said the presence of Russia’s UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya was unexpected, as he usually does not attend such informal gatherings.

“As soon as he approached the bar counter to try something new, he was apparently shocked to see a full selection of Ukrainian craft beer,” she wrote.

After that, the Russian representative reportedly left the event within a few minutes.

Diplomatic gathering ends with swift exit by Russian envoy

She suggested this likely spoiled Nebenzya’s mood and appetite, and that he “circled around for a few minutes and then disappeared like a cork from our gathering.”