The building housing the Slovenian consulate in Kharkiv has been severely damaged in a Russian army's attack, Slovenia's Foreign Ministery tweeted on Tuesday.

“We have been informed that the consulate of the Republic of Slovenia in Ukraine was destroyed in one of the military attacks on Kharkiv. We condemn this shocking act by the Russian Federation and the aggression on Ukraine,” the ministry said, adding that the consulate staff and the Honorary Consul of Slovenia in Ukraine, Anatoliy Bondarenko, were not injured in the attack.

Žal smo bili obveščeni, da je bil v enem izmed vojaških napadov na mesto Harkov uničen tudi konzulat Republike Slovenije 🇸🇮 v Ukrajini 🇺🇦. Obsojamo to nezaslišno dejanje Ruske federacije in agresijo nad Ukrajino.
#WeStandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/ncSlXIPOFE

— MFA Slovenia (@MZZRS) March 1, 2022

“The Slovenian Consulate in Kharkiv was destroyed as a ‘collateral diplomatic damage’ as well,” EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Matti Maasikas, also tweeted.

Slovenian Prime Minister, Janez Jansa, also tweeted his reaction, saying that the targeting of civilian buildings reminded him of the tactics employed by the Yugoslav People’s Army three decades ago on the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

Slovenia, an Alpine nation of 2.1 million people, had engaged in a brief ten-day guerrilla war against the overwhelmingly more powerful Yugoslav People’s Army after it had declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Since then, Slovenia joined both Nato and the EU in 2004. Slovenia also joined Western sanctions against Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, in the wake of his invasion on Ukraine.

“Well, we experienced the same approach from the Yugoslav communist army 30 years ago. It didn’t work, Mr. Putin. Neither will today in Ukraine. You can’t defeat united and brave nation,” Jansa said.

“I strongly condemn the continuation of Putin’s barbaric aggression on Ukraine! Shocking!,” Slovenian MEP Tanja Fajon said on Twitter following the attack. Due to the situation in Kyiv, Slovenia withdrew its embassy personnel in Ukraine. Besides the one in Kharkiv, it has two more honorary consuls, based in Zhytomyr and Odessa.