(Berlin) A wrecked Russian tank on display in front of the embassy in Berlin, gun pointed towards the entrance. It is a strong image Friday of the commemorations in Europe of the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
The scene is striking, right in the center of the German capital, a few steps from the emblematic Brandenburg Gate: activists towed a Russian tank in front of the embassy during the night.
This unusual image attracted many curious people on Friday morning, including classes on a school visit to the German capital.
“We were passing by and we saw a crowd, it’s weird to see a tank like that” in the middle of Berlin, told AFP Allen Eapen, a 22-year-old Indian who studies in the capital.
The “Terrorists’ Gate”
The tank, type T-72 B1, dating from 1985, was destroyed, probably by a mine, on March 31, 2022 near Boutcha, in the suburbs of Kyiv. Part of the tracks are crushed, as well as the turret, partly pulverized.
The khaki color has been burnished in places by the flames. Many bullet holes are visible on the carcass, proof according to the initiators of the project that the armored vehicle “actively participated in combat”. The barrel of the 44-ton tank and nearly 2.3 meters high is intact and points to the headquarters of the Russian Embassy, on Unter den Linden Avenue.
“It’s impressive, it’s a good way (of protest) to demonstrate in front of the embassy,” notes Lorenzo Graif, a 22-year-old Chilean who also studies in Berlin.
“We see this reality, whereas usually it is far”, on the battlefield, explains to AFP Sabine Ertl, a German on vacation with her family.
After a long standoff with the town hall of Berlin, the organizers of this demonstration obtained the authorization to expose the wreckage, which comes from the museum of military history of Kyiv and is visible until Sunday. “We want to put their scrap in front of the door of the terrorists”, explains one of the initiators, Wieland Giebel.
“We want to protest against Russian aggression and express our solidarity,” lawyer Bender Harrer Krevet, one of the initiators, told AFP.
The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, Oleksii Makeiev, is due to visit the wreckage site during the day. A demonstration of support for Ukraine is also planned for the beginning of the afternoon on this large avenue in the city center.
Near the tank has been exposed for several weeks a kind of box of three meters by three, an exact replica of the cell of the Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny that passers-by can visit.
Spilled paint
One year to the day after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, demonstrations of support and solidarity with the Ukrainians are multiplying in Europe.
In Paris, the Eiffel Tower was illuminated Thursday evening in yellow and blue colors, like the buildings of the European Commission and Parliament in Brussels or the National Theater in Warsaw and the Place d’Armes, in the heart of Luxembourg.
In front of the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, the colors of Ukraine were hoisted. The Portuguese Parliament and most parties marked the first anniversary by observing a minute of silence.
In London, liters of paint were dumped in front of the Russian embassy to repaint the pavement in Ukrainian colors and hundreds of people gathered in Trafalgar Square. When asked, Kenia Miletska said she was surprised at the level of support in the United Kingdom: “It’s incredible, when you wear a Ukrainian flag, people tell you ‘Slava Ukraini’ (glory to Ukraine, editor’s note). They know what that means.”
In Berlin on Thursday evening, the peace sign was drawn using dozens of candles at the foot of the Brandenburg Gate.
In the German capital, everyone remembers where they were a year ago when they learned of the Russian attack. “I was devastated and it was strong, because here, we are not so far” from the war, confides Mr.
“We are not really optimistic, it may last a long time,” fears Mme Ertl.