A diplomat serving at the Belarusian embassy in London was left seriously wounded and in need of medical assistance on Sunday after a gang of people descended on the building, Minsk has alleged.
In a statement, Belarus’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that “on the evening of December 19, 2021, the Belarusian embassy in London was attacked. First the facade of the building of the foreign office was vandalized by a group of people, and then the Belarusian diplomats who arrived on the spot were physically attacked. One of them was seriously injured and required urgent medical care.”
Officials insist that the worker was diagnosed with a fractured nose, mild concussion, and a traumatic tooth fracture.
Belarusian diplomats said the perpetrators tried to flee the scene, but London’s diplomatic police force managed to apprehend some of the attackers. Minsk alleges that the assailants are members of a “radical emigrant” group known as “Nadzeya,” appearing to reference an organization of the same name that describes itself online as the voice of the “Belarusian community in the UK with hope in a new Belarus.”
RT has contacted London’s Metropolitan Police for comment, with a spokesman saying that the force is currently looking into the situation, but cannot confirm or deny that its officers made arrests.
“This assassination attempt, made against people, who are bound by duty to protect the interests of Belarusian citizens and work for the improvement of interstate relations, once again eloquently demonstrates the true nature and methods of action of fanatics, which some countries of the collective West are persistently trying to pass off as peaceful protesters,” the ministry claimed.
The service disclosed that the chargé d'affaires of the UK has been summoned to the Belarusian Foreign Ministry and that they have demanded a thorough investigation of the incident and updates about the progress and results of the proceedings.
Last month, Belarusian officials retracted a statement that seemed to indicate the country’s embassy in Belgium had been subject to an arson attack, saying that the claims had been issued by mistake. The message appeared to refer to an earlier communiqué following an incident months beforehand.
The country has been condemned by Western nations in recent months amid a worsening migration crisis on its shared borders with the EU. Brussels accuses the Eastern European country of putting on flights from troubled nations like Iraq and Syria as part of a “hybrid war” being waged against the bloc.
Belarus’ long-term leader Alexander Lukashenko has denied the accusations, arguing that his government is no longer able to prevent surges of people attempting to cross over due to the effect of sanctions from Brussels. However, in an interview last month, the strongman acknowledged it was possible that some of his officials were helping would-be asylum-seekers cross over into Poland illegally, but insisted that this was not worth investigating.