The Russian ambassador to Poland was doused with red paint thrown at him by protesters opposing the war in Ukraine, preventing him on Monday from honoring the Red Army soldiers who died during World War II at a cemetery in Warsaw.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the attack, saying on her page "We will not be afraid" while "People in Europe should be afraid to see their reflection in the mirror."

Ambassador Sergey Andreyev arrived at the Soviet soldiers' cemetery to lay flowers on Victory Day, which marks the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Allies.

Upon arriving at the Soviet military cemetery in the Polish capital, Andreyev encountered hundreds of activists opposed to the Russian war in Ukraine.

Initially, the protesters seized a wreath of flowers he intended to place at the cemetery, trampled on it, and red paint was thrown on it from behind before one of the protesters standing beside him poured a large amount on his face.

The protesters carried Ukrainian flags and shouted at him “fascists” and “murderers” in Russian, while some wore white sheets stained with red, symbolizing Ukrainian victims in the Russian war.

Zakharova said "The admirers of the neo-Nazis showed their faces once again." Some Russian commentators noted that the attack on the ambassador could prompt Moscow to recall him and demand the Polish ambassador to leave.

The Polish government faced criticism for not providing the ambassador with more security, allowing an incident that Russia could use to portray Poland as hostile to Moscow.

Among the critics was former Interior Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, who said he could not.

But the current Polish Interior Minister pointed out that the Polish government advised the Russian ambassador not to lay flowers at the cemetery, and indicated that the police allowed him to leave the location safely.

The protesters also marched in Warsaw on Sunday evening to protest the war, bringing a tank on a tractor and parking it in front of the Russian embassy.

The Soviet cemetery is located in the middle of a large park on the road connecting the city center to the international airport. It is the final resting place for more than 20,000 Red Army soldiers who died on Polish soil fighting against Nazi Germany.

While Poland has removed some Red Army landmarks in the decades since it overthrew Moscow-backed communist rule, it has allowed the cemetery to remain unobstructed.

Although Soviet soldiers defeated the Nazis later in the war, earlier in the conflict Soviet forces invaded Poland after a secret agreement with the Nazi German government, committing atrocities against Poles, including mass executions and deportations to Siberia.