It's hard to imagine how Ukrainians feel who have fled their homeland to Frankfurt before the Russian war of aggression and come across Putin sympathizers here.

That's exactly what happened on Sunday: the two camps met in the city center at a pro-Russian and a pro-Ukrainian rally.

Monica Ganster

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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34-year-old Alexander comes from Dnipro, but has lived in Frankfurt for years.

He came to Goetheplatz with his wife and son: "We want to draw attention to ourselves with a large counter-demonstration." Together with his family, he wants to show that the voice of the Ukrainian people has not fallen silent even after six months of war .

The police counted around 350 people at the rally, most of whom had a blue and yellow flag around their shoulders.

Artem, 28, comes from Moscow but also carries the Ukrainian flag today.

He has not missed a pro-Ukrainian demonstration since the war began in late February.

"When I see the latest news from Izyum, I immediately feel the need to go to a rally," he says.

When asked how it feels to be a few steps away demonstrating against arms sales to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, he replies: "It makes me angry." Most of his family supports him, but there are still family members and friends who believe the Russian television.

“Russian propaganda is more dangerous than Covid”

Olga Lyabakh, who came to Germany from Bucha, speaks at the pro-Ukrainian rally.

She warns of the dangers of Russian propaganda: "This is an epidemic that is more dangerous than Covid because no distance and no vaccination helps against it." She also tells of bomb attacks that she survived with several families in the basement of her house.

“There was an Uzbek family who phoned their grandfather in Russia.

He didn't believe the son and daughter-in-law that they were being shot at.

Russian television would show that there were no attacks and no deaths.”

Since all speeches are translated, the applause indicates that most of the participants are Ukrainians.

The German supporters are in the minority.

They also include representatives of the parties from the Romans.

When the honorary city councilor Stephan Siegler (CDU) takes the microphone and calls for negotiations with Putin to restore the borders before 2014, there is no translation.

Individuals shouted angrily: "No negotiations with Putin".

What the crowd wants, on the other hand, is clear, they keep chanting: “Heavy weapons for Ukraine” and “sanctions for Russia”.

Julia holds up a poster.

It reads: "Do you want to put blood in your car?" The thirty-five-year-old from Ukraine, who has lived in Germany for ten years, wants to appeal to the Germans, whose growing dissatisfaction with the higher prices for gas and food she senses.

"I'm afraid that at some point the Germans will fear for their own well-being and will start buying gas from Russia in full again," she says.

Only an hour later, a rally begins at Opernplatz, announced by the newly founded "Association of Germans from Russia in Hesse".

With their broad motto "For peace, freedom, free speech, against propaganda, arms deliveries, sanctions war", the organizers hoped to gather around 1500 participants behind them.

However, only around 150 people come together on the rain-soaked square.

"A colorful mixture", as a police spokesman aptly describes, because the demands on posters and from speakers range from reducing income tax for small and medium-sized businesses and fighting "vaccination terrorists" to continuing to operate German nuclear power plants and peace with Russia through negotiations.

Police officers, who also regularly accompany anti-vaccination demonstrations through the city, recognize numerous familiar faces among the participants in the rally on Opernplatz.

In the front row of the pro-Russian demonstrators are Anna and her friend.

The Russian-German, who has lived in Frankfurt since 1996, is holding a bouquet of flowers that she will lay down at the end of the demonstration for the children who died in the war.

"Germany's future is impossible without Russia," she says.

The friends wear t-shirts with the peace symbol.

46-year-old protester Elena has come to express her dissatisfaction with the sanctions against Russia.

She is against German arms deliveries to Ukraine, which she believes will only prolong the war in Ukraine.

"Conflicts have to be resolved diplomatically," she says.

Half an hour later, the bulk of the pro-Ukrainian demonstrators also turned up on Opernplatz and loudly sang the national anthem.

The situation seems to be getting worse, but the police are able to keep both groups separate with their massive presence.

Even then, when the pro-Russian protesters start moving and march through the city center.

Other participants join them, and the law enforcement officers count around 400 people at the end.

However, there were no more clashes.

Both sides have announced further demonstrations.