Moscow condemns Israeli strike on Russian cultural center

The civilian facility in Lebanon operated by a local partner was attacked without provocation, a Russian agency has said

Moscow has accused Israel of an “unprovoked act of aggression” after Israeli forces struck a Russian cultural center in Lebanon.

The attack on the facility in the southern city of Nabatieh was reported on Sunday by its director, Asaad Diya, who said the building was empty at the time. Rossotrudnichestvo, Russia’s international humanitarian cooperation agency, which has an official office in Beirut, said its staff remain in contact with Lebanese partners and are actively providing relief to civilians affected by the hostilities.

Israel renewed airstrikes and ground operations in Lebanon earlier this month, targeting the militant movement Hezbollah, after joining the US in a regime-change war against Iran.

Rossotrudnichestvo stressed that the Nabatieh cultural center “was not involved in any military activity” and that the attack was unjustifiable.

The agency noted that during the 1973 war with Arab nations, Israel struck the Soviet cultural center in Damascus, Syria, killing a female Russian language teacher and a local employee. The aircraft that conducted the bombing was shot down and its pilot was captured by Syrian forces, it added.

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In the Yom Kippur War, Israel was the defending side. While the short-lived conflict ended in a military stalemate, it also led oil-producing Arab states to impose an embargo on supporters of Israel, causing a global price shock.