Russian Consulate in New York City vandalized overnight

The Russian Consulate in New York City was vandalized early Friday morning with red spray paint, a spokesperson for the New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed.

Police responded to a call just after 1:30 a.m. on Friday that the facade of the Russian Consulate on the Upper East Side had been vandalized. No arrests were made, and the NYPD is continuing to investigate what it has deemed a “possible bias incident,” the spokesperson said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed treaties of annexation for four Ukrainian regions on Friday, further escalating his war with Ukraine after seven months of fighting. The move has been deemed illegal by the United States and its allies.

Putin sought to justify the move with referenda in the Ukrainian territories, but most in the West have rejected them as a “sham.”

At the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., was frequently the target of protests. A driveway outside of the embassy was painted with the word “murder” in large red letters, just after Russian forces invaded in February.

Protesters also placed a sign in front of the Russian Embassy in early March, unofficially renaming the street “President Zelensky Way,” and projected the Ukrainian flag onto the Russian Embassy in April.