BERLIN (Washington Insider Magazine) – Thousands of people protested in cities around Europe on Sunday to protest Russia’s continued conflict in Ukraine, with modest vigils held in Russia as well, despite regulators cracking down on such protests.
The German trade unions organized a demonstration in Berlin, which drew a large crowd due to the warm weather. The march began in Alexanderplatz, a huge area in the city named for Russian Tsar Alexander I, and ended around the Brandenburg Gate.
Many attendees waved Ukrainian flags, while others carried banners that said “Stop the War” and “Peace and Solidarity for the People of Ukraine.”
Several protesters in Berlin declared they were Russians who were embarrassed by what their nation was doing.
As of early evening Moscow time, over 668 individuals had been arrested in 36 cities in Russia, where protests against the violence in Ukraine have generally been greeted with a harsh police response.
In images provided by Russian media, there was a large police presence in major areas such as Manezhnaya Square close to the Kremlin, with officials carrying protestors away to awaiting police vehicles.
According to ABC NEWS, anti-war rallies were also held in London, Warsaw, and the German towns of Stuttgart, Frankfurt, and Hamburg.
In Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, a small far-right group staged a demonstration in favor of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Hundreds of motorists waved Serbian and Russian flags, honked horns, and yelled pro-Russian President Vladimir Putin phrases. The letter “Z,” which is used on Russian armored trucks in Ukraine but is now a sign of support for Russian forces, was painted on several of the automobiles.
Despite voting in support of a United Nations resolution denouncing Moscow’s aggression and formally pursuing membership in the European Union, Serbia has refused to support global sanctions on its partner Russia. The country’s main state-controlled media frequently broadcasts pro-Russian war coverage.
On Sunday, a day after protests in Naples and Florence, Ukrainians and Italians living in Italy protested the conflict in Ukraine in Rome and Milan.
Protesters clutched bleeding cloth sacks in the front row of a protest in Milan, Italy’s financial city, to symbolize innocent children killed in Russian strikes on Ukrainians. Many demonstrators had their faces stained in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, while other youngsters carried drawings.
Protesters in a Milan piazza spread a big rainbow-colored peace banner before the march.
The massacre of innocent people and children in Ukraine has been dubbed “barbarianism” by Pope Francis. He addressed a gathering of 25,000 attendees in St. Peter’s Square for his traditional Sunday noon visit that the assaults must end “before cities are reduced to cemeteries,” according to the Vatican.
Ukrainian citizens in Taiwan and sympathizers marched in Taipei earlier Sunday to oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
