Maria Zakharova, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, slammed the reports of a fire at the embassy calling it part of an anti-Russian information campaign, going “beyond sadism.”
The smoke was the result of activities to “preserve the building,” including “closing the windows, lowering the curtains, cutting off the water, turning off the lights, closing the doors, throwing away the garbage,” among other activities, she said.
Reports of the fire quickly led social media users to share an official picture of the San Francisco consul general Sergei Petrov, sitting next to a smoldering fireplace.