It’s been described as a ‘symbolic gesture’
Activists in Washington D.C. have erected a sign outside the Russian embassy renaming the street it’s on as “President Zelensky Way.”
The sign was posted outside the Consulate of Russia on Sunday afternoon (March 7), in a show of support for the Ukrainian president and the people of Ukraine.
The sign was put up by Mad Dog PAC, a group in America known for putting up billboards and signage calling out Republicans. Some of their previous work includes renaming prominent streets in D.C. in honour of Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist killed in the Saudi consulate in Turkey.
At Russian Embassy in DC… now located on President Zelensky Way. pic.twitter.com/zmShDvEqQS
— Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) March 6, 2022
Claude Taylor, photographer and chair of the progressive Mad Dog PAC, told HuffPost that it was a “symbolic gesture on our part.”
Mad Dog’s longtime billboard designer is currently in Dnipro, Ukraine, with his wife, who is the citizen of the country. Taylor said the couple are having to intermittently hide in bomb shelters.
“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,’” Taylor said.
The Russian embassy is located on a small street off Wisconsin Avenue, which is a major street in D.C.
There have been protests outside the building calling for Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine, with messages written on the pavement in chalk.
Scott Breeze, a Quaker carpenter with a broken foot, spent his afternoon outside the Russian Embassy in Washington waving a Ukrainian flag.
"If somebody will buy me a ticket, I'll go." pic.twitter.com/tpzCu8UeeB
— Van Applegate (@vbagate) March 6, 2022
Mad Dog PAC hope that the street is permanently renamed in Zelensky’s honour.
Related links:
- Anonymous hacks Russian state TV with Ukraine footage as broadcasting war continues
- President Zelensky thanks Elon Musk for providing internet to ‘destroyed cities’ in Ukraine
- Moscow police demand people’s phones and read their messages
