It was a lively Monday afternoon at 5 Belgrave Square, deep in London’s “oligarch quarter” after squatters occupied a mansion belonging to the family of Russian aluminium magnateand staged a seven-hour balcony protest with the aid of signs reading “this property has been liberated” and “Putin go f*** yourself” .
The group, calling themselves the London Mahknovists after early 20th-century Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary Nestor Makhno, danced, played music, called for the empty property to be opened up to Ukrainian refugees and attracted a phalanx of Metropolitan Police officers in riot gear. As negotiators attempted to persuade them to come down from the balcony – first via a ladder, then a JCB and crane – the group asked to be sent a questionnaire instead, Partygate-style.