In Odessa, the authorities dismantled monuments to Alexander Suvorov and the founder of the city, Catherine II.

Prior to this, the sculpture of the Empress had been repeatedly attacked by intruders: they poured paint over it, put insulting inscriptions on it, put a red cap on it, and put a noose in its hand.

At the same time, if before the start of the special operation, monuments to soldiers-liberators were desecrated and destroyed, now the aggression has spread to the statues of pre-revolutionary politicians and cultural figures.

Most often it went to the "sun of Russian poetry."

So, the monuments to Alexander Pushkin were doused with paint, desecrated with inscriptions or dismantled in Kyiv, Odessa, Chernivtsi, Nikolaev and Dnepropetrovsk.

In August, a bust of the Russian writer Maxim Gorky was dismantled in Alexandria, Kirovograd region.

The wave of vandalism against monuments associated with Russia and the Soviet era has covered not only Ukraine.

The most resonant cases of the destruction of monuments occurred in the Baltic countries and Poland.

In particular, in Vilnius, all the stelae of the memorial to Soviet soldiers at the Antakalnis cemetery were demolished.

The barbarians also desecrated several memorials to Soviet soldiers in Palanga and at the cemetery of Red Army prisoners of war in Kaunas.

In addition, the Lithuanian authorities have prepared recommendations for the demolition of monuments to Soviet soldiers - if, in the opinion of the municipalities, they do not represent artistic and cultural value, then they are proposed to be transferred to the Grutas park near the city of Druskininkai.

The memorial to Soviet soldiers from the city of Klaipeda, which was demolished on July 4 due to the demonstration of "symbols of Soviet propaganda", has already been moved there.

In March, in the Polish Chrzowice, in the presence of officials and representatives of local authorities, a monument erected in 1949 at the site of the death of 620 Red Army soldiers of the 1st Ukrainian Front was dismantled.

At the same time, the Polish TV channel broadcast the dismantling.

In mid-April, the Polish Institute of National Remembrance compiled a list of 60 monuments to be demolished.

Almost immediately after that, the authorities dismantled three memorials, which were located in the Wielkopolska and Lower Silesia voivodeships.

In August, the monument to the Soviet T-34 tank and six other monuments in Narva were dismantled.

The head of the Estonian Foreign Ministry, Urmas Reinsalu, said then that if any of the foreigners who are in Estonia, on the basis of their existing residence permit, oppose the dismantling of Soviet monuments, then they should take into account the likelihood of the residence permit being cancelled.

And the prime minister of the republic, Kaya Kallas, said that all Soviet monuments, of which there are up to 400 in the country, should be removed from public space as soon as possible.

In addition, monuments to the fighters against Nazism during the Great Patriotic War were destroyed in Latvian cities.

One of the most egregious cases was the demolition of the monument to the liberators of Riga.

At the same time, the sculpture "Motherland" was split.

During the dismantling, the police detained 14 people who were protesting against the destruction of the monument.

The Russian consulate began issuing them visas so that they could freely leave Latvian territory and find asylum in Russia if needed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called the destruction of monuments a betrayal of his own ancestors.

“It is with pain in our hearts that we see how in some countries they demolish monuments to Soviet soldiers who gave their lives for the freedom of their own peoples, how they mock history, cynically betray their own fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers,” the head of state said at the opening of the restored memorial complex "Saur-Mogila" September 8.

Attacks on embassies and churches

Russian diplomatic missions abroad were also subjected to numerous attacks in 2022.

“We note in a number of countries in Europe and North America an increase in the number of provocations against our diplomatic missions and consular offices, including cases of vandalism.

There are even threats against diplomats,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

So, on the night of March 7, a bottle with a flammable liquid was thrown into the building of the Russian House in Paris.

On the same day, an unknown person on a truck rammed the gates of the Russian embassy in Dublin, and a month later, on April 6, a similar incident occurred in Bucharest - there a car drove into the fence of the Russian embassy at high speed.

The car caught fire and the driver died.

According to law enforcement agencies, the accident was a deliberate act.

In March, the Russian flag was torn down from the building of the embassy office in Tartu, and in the same month, an attacker poured paint on the sign and part of the building of the Russian embassy in Tallinn.

Two men doused the sign of the Russian Embassy in Sofia with red paint, while their action was broadcast on social networks.

In April, paint was poured over the entrance gate of the Russian diplomatic mission in Rome. 

At the same time, the law enforcement agencies of the countries where the attacks took place did not always react to them.

In particular, this applies to the March incidents in the Netherlands and the October ones in Germany.

An incendiary device was thrown into the territory of the Russian diplomatic mission in Amsterdam, and the ambassador reported that he had received a death threat.

Consideration of both incidents by the country's authorities was terminated, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova: is a call to action."

On October 10, the Russian embassy in Berlin was bombarded with paint balloons.

A similar incident occurred at the consulate building in Frankfurt am Main.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the German police did not interfere with the implementation of hostile actions against Russian diplomatic missions, and those who committed acts of vandalism were not detained.

Orthodox churches abroad have also been attacked.

For example, in Oxford, rioters broke into the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

“Values ​​that are very important for parishioners and the local church community have been stolen.

The robbers also took the money, they were collected for refugees from Ukraine,” Maria Zakharova wrote in her Telegram channel.

On the chapel in the center of Reykjavik, vandals painted two swastikas, the building of the Russian church in New Zealand was doused with paint, the same happened with the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Geneva.

An Orthodox church was also desecrated in the place of La an der Thaya near Vienna: the attackers put inscriptions on the gate in front of the entrance to the temple and hung out the Ukrainian flag.

"It cost me my career"

However, Russophobia manifested itself not only in relation to monuments or buildings.

People also suffered from it in 2022.

Many cultural institutions refused to cooperate with Russian artists only on the basis of their citizenship and the fact that they did not speak out strongly against the special military operation.

Owners of establishments offering Russian cuisine have reported threats and damage to property.

And ordinary people who dared to declare their support for Russia were persecuted.

On March 8, the US Department of Justice charged Elena Branson, chairwoman of the Coordinating Council of Organizations of Russian Compatriots (KSORS), with illegal activities as a foreign agent.

She is charged with coordinating the "I love Russia" campaign in the United States, as well as organizing youth forums designed to "popularize the history and culture of Russia among young Americans."

In total, charges were brought against the head of the KSORS on six counts, on which she could face up to 35 years in prison.

On May 9, during a pro-Ukrainian rally in Munich, Russian woman Yulia Prokhorova danced "Kalinka", turning into the flag of the Russian Federation, after which waves of negativity hit her in social networks.

In October, the girl's house was searched because of the prosecutor's suspicion of "propaganda and glorification" of Russia's military actions in Ukraine.

And a German citizen Dmitry Ginter, known under the stage name Shokk, turned to the administration of the President of Russia with a request to grant him political asylum.

According to the rapper, after complaints about his tweets supporting the Russian Armed Forces, he faced harassment on social networks, and the Saxony Criminal Police Department opened a case against him.

“For my public pro-Russian position and support for the SVO, a criminal case was opened against me in Germany.

As a German citizen, I can no longer go back there.

I publicly supported Russia in 2014 as well, and it cost me my career.

Today I am threatened with a real term and, I am sure, a demonstrative public tribunal in the German media, ”wrote 41-year-old Ginter in his Telegram channel.

"Locomotives of Russophobia"

According to Nikita Danyuk, First Deputy Director of the RUDN Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts, a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, it is obvious that the Baltic states and Poland are the main locomotives of Russophobia within NATO and the EU.

“The most marginal Russophobic ideas that start there very soon become mainstream for the entire EU,” the expert explained.

- In the case of the Baltic states, everything is obvious, because these countries, except for the production of Russophobia, are no longer capable of anything.

All budgets and, in principle, the existence of these countries are based precisely on this.

And in the case of Poland, the historical background plays a role, and the situation in Ukraine makes their old imperial grievances relevant again.

That is why they are actively involved in rewriting history and demolishing monuments.”

According to the expert, the peak of attacks on everything related to Russia and the Soviet past has not yet been passed.

“It will begin when they try to equate the USSR with Nazi Germany abroad, when they forget that the Soviet army and people defeated Nazism.

Monuments in this sense are only the first step.

Soon in these countries we will see at the state level that not only are they trying to rewrite history, but it has already been rewritten.

It is indicative that things that seemed wild 10-15 years ago for Europe have now flourished and become mainstream,” notes Nikita Danyuk.

In turn, Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, believes that further events depend on the funding of anti-Russian sentiments abroad.

“If we look at the background, we understand that a certain pattern has developed.

American political technologists first try out some idea on their territory, and then replicate it around the world.

Everyone remembers how they destroyed monuments in the USA, erased history and left people with a blank sheet of paper to write on it what was profitable, and not what was actually.

This template was extended to Europe, the Baltic countries and Ukraine.

To erase the real story in people's memory and put in an invented one.

The task is futile.

But the organizers have such an illusion, so they invest in it,” the expert believes.

At the same time, Nikita Danyuk believes that Russia's instruments of influence on the situation primarily lie in the economic plane.

“I still don't understand why the Baltic market, which is very much focused on Russia, still has this opportunity.

And why do we supply both oil and gas there.

Moreover, the Baltic states are included in the so-called energy ring, that is, they receive electricity from Russia.

We limit ourselves to voting in the UN General Assembly, although we must talk about Russophobia and other things at all possible platforms, ”the expert concluded.