Ukrainian diplomat called Putin a WHAT?
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2014 6:44 am
Ukrainian diplomat uses swear word
for Putin, delighting protesters
and angering Moscow
By Carol Morello and Michael Birnbaum
The Washington Post
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukrainians have called Vladimir Putin many bad names, among them a Nazi, a dictator and just plain evil. But nothing has caused a firestorm quite like a Ukrainian diplomat’s use of a schoolyard epithet to describe the Russian president during an unscripted moment Saturday night.
Russian lawmakers called Sunday for the dismissal of Ukraine’s interim foreign minister, Andrii Deshchytsia, after he tagged Putin with the swear word. Deshchytsia tossed out the insult breezily as he sought to calm protesters and halt an attack on the Russian Embassy in Kiev.
He had waded into a near-riot as hundreds of people vented their rage at the loss of 49 Ukrainian service members earlier Saturday. Pro-Russian separatists, armed with weapons that many believe were supplied by Russia, shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane as it approached the airport in the eastern city of Luhansk, killing all aboard.
Every window in the three-story Russian Embassy was broken as protesters threw eggs, bricks, paint balls and car parts ripped off diplomatic vehicles.
Deshchytsia pleaded for them to halt the violence. He noted that Ukraine has an obligation to defend embassies and stressed that he was not asking the crowd to stop protesting but to be peaceful.
“I am ready to be here with you and say, ‘Russia, get out of Ukraine,’ ” he said.
Then he spoke the words that would cause an international incident: “Putin is a d---head, yes.”
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for Putin, delighting protesters
and angering Moscow
By Carol Morello and Michael Birnbaum
The Washington Post
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukrainians have called Vladimir Putin many bad names, among them a Nazi, a dictator and just plain evil. But nothing has caused a firestorm quite like a Ukrainian diplomat’s use of a schoolyard epithet to describe the Russian president during an unscripted moment Saturday night.
Russian lawmakers called Sunday for the dismissal of Ukraine’s interim foreign minister, Andrii Deshchytsia, after he tagged Putin with the swear word. Deshchytsia tossed out the insult breezily as he sought to calm protesters and halt an attack on the Russian Embassy in Kiev.
He had waded into a near-riot as hundreds of people vented their rage at the loss of 49 Ukrainian service members earlier Saturday. Pro-Russian separatists, armed with weapons that many believe were supplied by Russia, shot down a Ukrainian military transport plane as it approached the airport in the eastern city of Luhansk, killing all aboard.
Every window in the three-story Russian Embassy was broken as protesters threw eggs, bricks, paint balls and car parts ripped off diplomatic vehicles.
Deshchytsia pleaded for them to halt the violence. He noted that Ukraine has an obligation to defend embassies and stressed that he was not asking the crowd to stop protesting but to be peaceful.
“I am ready to be here with you and say, ‘Russia, get out of Ukraine,’ ” he said.
Then he spoke the words that would cause an international incident: “Putin is a d---head, yes.”
MORE