Blue and yellow paint splashed on door of Vancouver's Russian Community Centre, police investigating

Vancouver police are investigating after an apparent act of vandalism at the Russian Community Centre in the city's Kitsilano neighbourhood overnight.

The Vancouver Police Department said in a news release Saturday that it had sent investigators to the community centre near Arbutus Street and West 4th Avenue after receiving reports that the building had been defaced with blue and yellow paint.

Images from the scene show the paint splattered on the door and the sidewalk, as well as on some of the posters outside the building's entrance.

There were no written messages visible with the vandalism, but the choice of colours is almost certainly an allusion to the Ukrainian flag.

Russia invaded Ukraine late last month, drawing condemnation from most of the world and prompting significant sanctions from NATO countries, including Canada.

Natasha Lozovsky-Burns is the vice president of Vancouver's Russian Community Centre. She told CTV News the centre has been around since 1956, when it was founded by Russian immigrants who came to Vancouver via China.

Today, the organization offers classes in Russian language, history and culture, including a full Russian immersion school on Saturdays.

The centre has no ties to the Russian government, Lozovsky-Burns said, adding that 80 per cent of its members are actually Ukrainian.

"They have grandparents there, they have other close relatives," she said. "They're all suffering. The families here are in emotional upheaval, and for them to come to the hall and see this done, it was very emotionally upsetting for them."

Lozovsky-Burns said she understands the frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government that would lead someone to lash out at a Vancouver organization with Russia in its name.

She added that she lived in Ukraine for two years and has friends in Kyiv who are currently living in bunkers because of the invasion.

"It's really unfortunate because they were targeting the wrong people," she said. "Basically, they were targeting themselves by throwing paint at our building."

Pro-Ukraine demonstrations have drawn large crowds in cities across B.C. and across the country. 

Some prominent Russian citizens have also condemned the war, and thousands have been arrested at anti-war protests in that country.

Still, Vancouver's Russian Community Centre is not the first building associated with Russia to be defaced in B.C. since the invasion began.

On Wednesday, red paint was splattered on the door of St. Sophia Orthodox Church in Victoria. The church is a Canadian parish of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Victoria police have said they're investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. 

The Vancouver vandalism likely happened overnight, police said, adding that no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing. 

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