A man has been arrested after ploughing a car through the gates of the Russian consulate in Sydney.
It came after police were called to the consulate in the city’s eastern suburbs about 8am on Monday, amid reports a suspicious vehicle was parked in the driveway.
Officers tried to speak to the 39-year-old driver but he allegedly drove his vehicle into the gates and onto the lawn of the Woollahra property, police said.
The man was arrested and taken to Surry Hills Police Station where he is assisting police with inquiries.
Footage on the Seven Network obtained from a helicopter shows a white SUV with its doors flung open and smashed windows in the front near a flagpole.
A 24-year-old constable suffered a hand injury and was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics.
The Russian consulate has been contacted for comment.
Pro-Kremlin influencer Simeon Boikov, who used the name Aussie Cossack online, has been holed up at the consulate for 1000 days after he was charged with assaulting a pro-Ukraine protester in Sydney.
He was woken by the sound of police sirens about 8.30am. After initially thinking there was a fire next door, he emerged to find the Toyota parked on the consulate’s lawn.
Boikov said the driver was already being pursued by police as he drove through the compound’s gates.
“From my side, it looks like a diplomatic asylum attempt,” he said.
Boris Kragen, 77, a Russian national from Moscow, was surprised when he saw the leafy street taped off and several police cars blocking the area around the consulate.
“I came here to do some paperwork but they [police] said it’s closed, so now we wait,” he said.
Minor damage to the front gate was quickly repaired.
The area was under guard by federal police.
-AAP
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