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A zelyonka attack is a form of protest, provocation or violent assault, defined as throwing a solution of brilliant green (, zelyonka, , zelenka), a triarylmethane antiseptic dye, on the body (usually face) of a victim. On top of potential danger of vision loss, it is very hard to remove quickly; the complete natural removal may take up to a week. In the 2010s, zelyonka attacks became widespread in Russia and Ukraine by pro-government activists against anti-government political and other personalities.
In 2023, journalist Elena Milashina was attacked in the Russian region of Chechnya. The attackers shaved her head and covered her in zelyonka.
As a result of numerous attacks, part of the Russian opposition leaders began to use zelyonka and green color as a "badge of honor". After Navalny was attacked in Barnaul, dozens of his supporters posted online photos of themselves "in green" (#GreenNavalny), and blogger Nikolai Danilov, who came to Red Square with a face covered with green colour, was detained by the police. When Kasyanov was attacked on the memorial march for Boris Nemtsov, the demonstrants began to cry out: "You won't pour zelyonka over us!"
On 4 May 2017, Alexei Navalny stated that the incidents involving zelyonka ended up helping his fundraising. On the same day, Russian poet Dmitry Bykov published a poem "Vivat, Green Russia!", in which green color was named as the color of "Russian revolution".
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