Tens of thousands of mostly young people joined a global day of protests by the climate protection movement Fridays for Future in Germany on Thursday against the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
According to police estimates, around 20,000 demonstrators gathered in Hamburg on Thursday afternoon, and around 5,000 participants came together in Berlin, according to the police.
According to Fridays for Future, 120,000 people took to the streets in Hamburg against the Russian attack on Ukraine.
This resulted in a separate count, said spokeswoman Annika Rittmann of the German Press Agency.
"The number of the police just isn't right," said Rittmann.
"Anyone who has been here knows there were more."
The demonstration train formed at noon on Spielbudenplatz and the Reeperbahn and then moved through the city center and back to St. Pauli.
From the afternoon, further demonstrations are also planned in large cities such as Munich, Cologne and Frankfurt am Main.
At the request of its Ukrainian branch, the globally active action network called for the protests under the motto "Stand with Ukraine", which were also accompanied by video messages from young activists there.
In their call for demonstrations, Fridays for Future advocated stricter punitive measures against Russia and its head of state Vladimir Putin.
"The sanctions that still allow Putin to continue this war are not enough," it said.
The "whole world" must oppose the Russian war, words and declarations of support for Ukraine by other heads of state and government are not enough.
Action must follow.
The movement called for Ukraine to join the EU and stop importing oil, gas and coal from Russia.
These served "to finance Putin's whims".
The Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline must be stopped “once and for all”.
The movement also made general reference to the link between fossil resources and wars.
"The fossil fuel era must end."
Since the Russian attack on Ukraine, there have been repeated large solidarity and peace demonstrations in Germany.
Several hundred thousand people gathered in Berlin on Sunday, and around 250,000 participants came together on Monday for a peace rally instead of the Shrove Monday parade in Cologne.
Around 45,000 people demonstrated in Munich on Wednesday evening against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Large-scale so-called climate strikes on Fridays are usually the hallmark of Fridays for Future.
Actually, the next global strike was planned for March 25th.
Because of the "urgency of the situation," according to the movement, a global day of action was brought forward at the request of Ukrainian activists and dedicated to the war.