"Putin is a demon, we don't want a dictatorship"

• Invasion Russian troops enter Kiev after bombing it

• Opinion Russia yesterday, China tomorrow

More than 3,700 kilometers from

, dozens of Ukrainians gathered this Friday at the

in Madrid to ask for an end to "an inexplicable massacre" that is destroying the country that they once left and in which many still live. of your family and friends.

"We are here to pray for peace. The only weapon we have with us is God," explains

to EL MUNDO without hiding his anguish , a priest who has been attending the Ukrainian Eastern rite community for more than 20 years. this church.

Like many of his compatriots, Lypka left his loved ones in his country and now suffers from a distance the Russian attempt to usurp the freedom that cost them so much to conquer: "Ukraine is at war and they are very distressed. They spend the day in a basement. They have not been able to leave.

but there are beginning to be many difficulties," he says.

Although in recent times the news that came from Kiev was very worrying, Lypka assures that no one expected a warlike outcome.

"No one thought there was going to be a war. News was coming in, politicians were talking, but we thought we would not get to this point. The international community must stop this slaughter, it must act quickly. Democracy and the independence of a country are at stake.

," he says.

"Ukraine has suffered for many centuries, we have been persecuted, they have taken away our freedom and even our language. We have lived for many years under a dictatorship and we do not want to return to that. God asks us to defend him and our people, "he adds. .

While the capital of Ukraine, Kiev, and different parts of the country were the scene this Friday of fierce fighting between the invading Russian forces and the army of this country, in this central Madrid church the silence was only interrupted by prayers asking for the end of the spill of blood.

The sadness and anguish were palpable on the faces of some parishioners who can think of nothing else since

ordered the first attack.

"He doesn't want the

angrily

, who has her entire family in the west of the country.

"I have been able to talk to them and more than fear, they want to fight. The Ukrainian people have never been as united as they are now," she says.

Therefore, she makes the same appeal to the international community.

"That they also be together, that they help us, especially by air," begs this Ukrainian who lives alone in Madrid after her relatives decided to return a few years ago.

With teary eyes and trembling voice, another parishioner tells in anguish how she has only been able to speak to her daughter-in-law.

Her only son, 36, is on the front "fighting against the invader."

"Putin is a devil, he wants the

again . We don't want a dictatorship, going back a century," she says.

At his side, Natalia corroborates his words: "The only culprit is Vladimir Putin.

. The international community has to do something more, the sanctions are not enough, in addition to solidarity we need military help. It is urgent," he asks. with determination.

"We pray every day, morning and night, so that all this ends as soon as possible."

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Know more

• Ukraine

• Vladimir Putin

• Adolf Hitler

• THE WORLD

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