A road sign honouring Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has appeared outside Russia’s embassy in Washington DC.
The sign reads “President Zelensky Way” in honour of the popular Ukrainian president, who has accused Moscow of “deliberate murder” as the Russian invasion of his country continues.
A progressive political action committee (PAC) immediately said it was responsible for the temporary road sign.
“It was a symbolic gesture on our part,” said Claude Taylor, chair of the Mad Dog PAC, in an interview with HuffPost.
Mr Taylor added that a designer for the PAC was a Ukrainian national and was currently sheltering in the country with his family, as Russia continues to wage war.
“You know, sirens are going off in the background and he’s like, ‘Wait a minute. I’ll be right back. Gotta go to the shelter’”, Mr Taylor said of his colleague.
It comes amid Russia’s war on Ukraine, from where 1.5m people have fled to neighbouring countries such as Poland, Romania and Moldova.
Mr Zelensky as well as other world leaders have called on Russian president Vladimir Putin to end his assault on Ukraine.
Fighting continued at the weekend despite ceasefire agreements, with reports of Russian rocket strikes near Kyiv and in Mariupol. Another round of ceasefire agreements may appear on Monday, however.
“How many families like this have died in Ukraine?,” said president Zelensky on Sunday night. “We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will punish everyone who committed atrocities in this war. On our land. There will be no quiet place on this earth for you, except for the grave.”
“It seems everything Russian servicemen have already done is still not enough for them. Not enough ruined destinies. Mutilated lives. They want to kill even more.”
The symbolic renaming of the street outside Russia’s embassy in Washington DC comes after similar moves by authorities in Latvia and Lithuania, which have named streets in solidarity with Ukraine.
Latvia’s capital Riga will officially rename a street leading to the Russian embassy as “Independent Ukraine Street”, reports suggest, while in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, a road leading to the Russian embassy has been renamed “Ukrainian Heroes Street“.
It remains to be seen if Washington DC makes the name change permanent following calls from activists.
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