A statue of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin at Mandi House in New Delhi has been erected by Hindu Sena posters supporting the country’s invasion of Ukraine and “Akhand Russia”. Though no complaint was received by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation or Delhi Police, officials said action would be taken as the public statue cannot be defaced.
Two identical posters have been put up under the statue, which read: “Indian Hindus are with Putin and Russia in the founding of the Soviet Union. Hail united Russia. Jai Bharat.” Hindu Sena national president Vishnu Gupta said, “We put up posters only to support Russia at such times. No war is good, but if we have to choose between good and better, we will stand in support of Russia, because Russia has always been a true friend of India… We pray and save Russia from its old Soviet Union and country. support the withdrawal. Take all necessary action to protect your borders.”
NDMC vice-chairman Satish Upadhyay said, “It has not come to my notice, but no group can spoil government property by putting up posters. As soon as such incidents come to the notice, our concerned departments and officials take cognizance. If the poster is still there, we will remove it soon.
On the other hand, Russian forces bombarded Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv on Tuesday. With this, the Russian army has moved closer to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and Russian tanks and other military vehicles are traveling in a convoy of about 40 miles. Isolated by the Kremlin’s tough economic sanctions, Russian troops made rapid advances towards Ukraine’s two largest cities.
A video posted online showed explosions in the region’s Soviet-era administrative buildings and residential areas in strategic Kharkiv, with a population of about 1.5 million.