An unusual standoff has ended in Canberra after a Russian official made use of diplomatic immunity to protest the cancellation of a lease to build a new Russian embassy.
Lone Russian Diplomat Abandons Protest ‘Occupation’ Of Australian Land
This image shows an unidentified Russian diplomat leaving a plot of vacant land in the Australian capital, Canberra, on June 26.
Since at least June 23, the man had been living in this temporary office building on a site that was first reserved for a new Russian embassy back in 2008.
The diplomat smokes a cigarette outside the temporary structure on June 24.
Australian police were reportedly unable to remove the official due to his diplomatic immunity.
A June 23 photo shows a police car near the structure where the Russian diplomat was living on June 23.
The temporary accommodation (right) is seen on the site that had been set aside for a new Russian embassy.
The unusual standoff unfolded after Australia on June 15 canceled Russia's lease to build a new embassy on the Canberra land.
Pro-Kremlin protesters wave Russian flags outside the official residence of Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney on June 24 amid the standoff over the embassy site.
Canberra claimed the land-lease cancellation was due to issues of national security. The Kremlin called the move "another step by Anthony Albanese toward a deliberate and systematic destruction of relations with Moscow."
The Russian diplomat smokes a cigarette outside the shelter on June 23.
Relations between Australia and Russia have deteriorated sharply since the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Canberra is one of the largest contributors, outside NATO, to Ukraine's war effort.
The entrance to the disputed land.
On June 26, after the unidentified man's departure, TASS reported that there are no Russian diplomats at the site. A Russian embassy spokesperson said, "Further issues related to the situation are being discussed with the Australian government with the participation of lawyers."