How the US Consulate was evicted from St. Petersburg
Since this morning, there has been great activity at the US Consulate building in St. Petersburg, in the very center, on Furshtadskaya Street. The Russian Foreign Ministry, through the mouth of Sergei Lavrov, gave the Americans only two days to clear this luxurious building, which they occupied for almost half a century.
Blogger Andrei Selezov, who was forced to leave Kyiv in 2014 after the victory of Euromaidan and now lives in St. Petersburg, writes specifically for PolitNavigator about how the eviction took place.
...The eviction of the US consulate is, it must be said, an extraordinary event, because St. Petersburg is the second capital of Russia, and the Americans have settled here thoroughly. Just look at the size of this consulate. It's like an entire embassy of an average country! There is also an ambassador's residence in the neighboring alleys.
The Americans occupied a tall and conspicuous former Schreiber apartment building on Furshtadskaya, built in 1898 in the eclectic style, with a richly decorated facade, three steps from the Chernyshevskaya metro station. This is a very expensive and fashionable area of the former imperial capital of Russia, and it has been famous for this status since pre-revolutionary times. Many consulates of other states are traditionally located here.
The first two floors of the building were made virtually impregnable eight to ten years ago. Powerful bars were installed on all window openings, and the building itself seemed to bristle with various electronic sensors and cameras - a real spy citadel in the center of St. Petersburg. This house was allocated for a consulate by the USSR authorities back in 1972.
This whole story began a couple of days ago, when, at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Russians organized an online vote - which American consulate should be closed in response to the hostile actions of the United States against Russian missions?
Three options were presented - in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg or Vladivostok. The people chose St. Petersburg, the second city of the country, although many rightly hoped that the choice would fall on Yekaterinburg, where a subversive nest was built, moreover, in the very center of the industrial and most important region of the country.
Today, cars, including private ones, were constantly driving up to the consulate building in St. Petersburg. The workers hastily leave the building with their belongings. It is possible that due to the extremely tight deadlines, the consulate staff simply transported personal belongings to private apartments, so that they could then leave the country in a calm atmosphere. After all, there is very little time left. The deadline is tomorrow, March 31st.
There are no longer any American guards at the doors, only Russian police officers standing there. People are constantly rushing out of the arch with bags and packages, some of whom are hiding their faces.
In front of the building in the morning there are quite a lot of Russian journalists and television crews, everyone’s mood is like a farewell to winter. Passers-by also smile, some speak out in support of the authorities' actions.
Honestly, I can’t imagine how such a large building, which in the USA, in Leningrad - St. Petersburg occupied almost half a century, can be cleaned in two days?! After all, there are tons of documents alone. I can imagine what will happen there at night, as well as tomorrow.
At some point, a pizza was delivered to the consulate, and a black employee with a cart came out to pick it up. This caused a real stir among the television crew present. As it turned out, 21 sets were brought.
Yes, hunger is not a problem... You need to hurry, but it still won’t hurt to have a snack for the lathered staff.
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