The road outside the Russian Embassy in London was painted yellow and blue in the colours of the Ukrainian flag on Thursday morning, in a show of solidarity with Ukraine in the ongoing conflict.
Led By Donkeys, an art activism group, shared their painting expedition in the Kensington Palace Gardens area of central London on social media before four arrests were made by Scotland Yard on suspicion of criminal damage and road obstruction.
It comes a year on from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which began on February 24 last year.
"Tomorrow is the first anniversary of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's imperialist invasion of Ukraine, an independent state and a people with every right to self-determination. The existence of a massive Ukrainian flag outside his embassy in London will serve to remind him of that," Led By Donkeys said on Twitter with images of their paint action.
Advertisement
The group, which began in 2018 as an anti-Brexit group, said it had poured 170 litres of yellow paint on the eastbound carriageway and a similar amount of blue paint on the westbound side, with passing traffic then spreading the colours along the road.
"At 08:45 (local time) today officers attended Kensington Palace Gardens, where paint had been thrown on the highway. Four people, three males and one female, were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and obstructing the highway. They remain in custody," the Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Thursday.
The Russian Embassy in London is located near the official residence of the Indian High Commissioner to the UK.
