Russia opens probe into ‘terrorist’ attack on its embassy

A criminal case has been opened after a molotov cocktail was thrown at Moscow’s diplomatic mission in Canada

Russia has opened a criminal investigation into last week’s attack on its embassy in Canada. The assault has been described by Moscow’s envoy, Oleg Stepanov as an attempted terrorist attack. 

On September 12 an unknown assailant hurled a molotov cocktail at the building. The liquid in the bottle, however, failed to ignite on impact and did not cause any damage to the embassy or harm its employees.

“We are talking about an attempt to commit a terrorist act,” said Stepanov, warning that such attacks could occur again and lead to much more dire consequences unless something is done to prevent such violence.

Aleksander Bastrikin - the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee - announced via Telegram on Tuesday that he has ordered a criminal investigation into the incident. He wrote that the purpose of the probe is to examine the details of the September 12 attack and work with Canadian police to identify the attacker by providing them with footage from the embassy’s security cameras.

On Monday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry also summoned Canada’s ambassador to Moscow Alison LeClaire to hand her a note of protest over the incident. The ministry noted that not only did Ottawa police fail to prevent the attack or find those responsible, but they also turned a blind eye to “aggressive protestors” who were blocking access to the embassy despite police being present at the scene.

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“The attention of the head of the Canadian diplomatic mission is drawn to the fact that, as in other similar cases of hostile actions against the diplomatic missions of the Russian Federation in Canada, law enforcement agencies did not prevent these incidents and did not detain the perpetrators,” the ministry wrote, demanding that Canada deploy proper protection for Russian foreign missions in accordance with the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations. 

The attack has been confirmed by the Canadian police, which said they were monitoring any incidents and were prepared to respond if the situation warranted it. 

In a statement on Monday the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they were also investigating the incident and defended the actions on ground saying it “constantly adapts its protective posture to the current threat environment in order to ensure an adequate level of protection is in place at the Russian Embassy.”