From Paris to Tokyo, demonstrations protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Ukrainians living in Lebanon demonstrate against the Russian invasion in front of the Russian Embassy in Beirut, February 24, 2022. AP - Bilal Hussein
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3 mins
In Berlin, Paris or even Prague and Warsaw, thousands of demonstrators protested this Thursday in many countries against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
And in Russia itself, hundreds of protesters have been arrested.
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They were around 2,800 to gather this Thursday evening at the Place de la République in Paris to protest against
Russia's invasion of Ukraine
and to castigate the head of the Kremlin with cries of "Putin terrorist", "Putin assassin".
"Sanctions for Russia", "Arm Ukraine", they chanted again.
Many of the demonstrators carried blue and yellow Ukrainian flags and some held a bouquet of mimosas in their hands, Agence France-Presse noted.
Several political personalities had joined them.
Among them, the Greens candidate for the presidential election Yannick Jadot called on the Europeans "
to seize the assets and bank accounts of the Russian oligarchs
".
“
We must respond to the demands of the Ukrainian government and people to arm and defend them
,” he continued.
Christiane Taubira, also a candidate on the left, also made a brief appearance, while many members of civil society, many of them from Eastern Europe, took turns at the microphone.
“
I was born in Moscow, but today I spent part of the morning evacuating part of my family who are under Russian bombs in Ukraine
“, was indignant Alexis Prokoviev, spokesperson for the NGO Russia Freedom.
By midday, hundreds of people had already gathered outside the Russian Embassy in Paris.
Rallies were also held in major French cities.
In Marseille (South), a city twinned with Odessa in Ukraine, around fifty Ukrainians and a few elected officials denounced the Russian invasion.
They were 150 in Rennes (West), while a hundred people also demonstrated in Strasbourg behind a large banner “We stand with Ukraine” (We are with Ukraine).
In this city in eastern France, three buildings including the town hall will be illuminated in the colors of Ukraine "
to show its solidarity with the Ukrainian people
".
The Ukrainian flag will fly over Lyon's town hall on Thursday evening.
In Nantes, the fountain of the Place Royale, place of celebrations, will be illuminated in the colors of Ukraine until the end of the week.
Russian flag burned in Warsaw
In Germany, protesters also gathered outside the Russian embassy in Berlin, calling for an end to the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainians took part in another gathering, at the foot of the mythical Brandenburg Gate.
In Georgia, the scene of a Russian intervention in 2008, thousands of people demonstrated in the main cities.
In Prague, where Russian tanks intervened in 1968, several thousand people demonstrated in Wenceslas Square and then marched towards the Russian Embassy, carrying a large caricature of Hitler and Putin.
In front of the imposing building of the Russian diplomatic mission, the demonstrators chanted “Pack your bags” and “Glory to Ukraine, glory to the heroes”.
In Warsaw, a country bordering Ukraine, a Russian flag was burned by a protester in front of the Russian embassy.
Rallies were organized in parallel in Beirut and Tokyo.
In Dublin, The Hague and Amsterdam, hundreds of people also took part in rallies on Thursday in front of Russian representations.
In Istanbul, around 40 people gathered Thursday morning in front of the Russian consulate to sing the Ukrainian anthem and hold up portraits of the Russian president, his face covered in blood.
The Ukrainian diaspora also called for a rally in Bern attended by several hundred people under the slogan "Stop Putin's war".
(
With
AFP)
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