Mannequin Limbs Hurled at UK Embassy in Moscow

The UK Embassy in Moscow came under a brief attack by a dozen of protesters who threw mannequin limbs across the fence, Russian media reported Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The action came in response to Thursday’s demonstration outside the Russian mission in London, in which hundreds of plastic arms were dumped at the gate, blocking the entrance and paralyzing its work in protest against the Russian aerial campaign in Syria.

A hundred of activists gathered outside the UK diplomatic mission, according to Russia’s Rossiya 24 channel. They lined up across the road and shouted slogans, the news channel said.

A similar protest involving several activists took place near the British ambassador’s residence opposite the Kremlin. Demonstrators reportedly threw mannequin parts over the fence.

A member of the British Embassy staff told RIA Novosti the protests did not interrupt the mission's work because this Friday was its day-off. Russia marks the National Unity Day on November 4.

Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied late Friday having called on Russians to demonstrate outside British diplomatic missions.

"The Russian Foreign Ministry never urged activists or civil society members to hold manifestations outside foreign diplomatic missions and the reason for that is: we deliver on our obligations, including those enshrined in the Vienna Convention [on Diplomatic Relations of 1961] which stipulates that embassies must be protected," she told the Govorit Moskva radio station.

Zakharova said earlier the UK government was responsible for the blocking of Russian Embassy’s work in London after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said last month he wanted to see Britons protest Russia’s airstrikes in Syria.