Gatherings | Solidarity with Ukraine is seen around the world

(Tbilisi) Torchlight marches or simple street parades: demonstrations of solidarity with Ukraine against the Russian invasion are multiplying throughout the world, from Argentina to Georgia via Italy.

On Saturday, residents of Tokyo took part in a demonstration to denounce the war in Ukraine. “We must increase the pressure of the world [contre la Russie]. It’s a war between dictatorship and democracy,” a protester said.

Other events are planned for Saturday, notably in Paris and Switzerland.

Nearly 30,000 people gathered Friday evening in Georgia, a former Soviet republic. The war, which according to Kiev has already killed at least 198 civilians, has caused a feeling of deja vu in this country, which was also the victim of a devastating Russian invasion in 2008.

The demonstrators marched on the main thoroughfare of the capital Tbilisi, waving Ukrainian and Georgian flags and singing the anthems of the two countries.

“We have compassion for Ukrainians, perhaps more than other countries, because we have experienced Russia’s barbaric aggression on our soil,” taxi driver Niko Tvauri told AFP. 32 years old.

“Ukrainians, Georgians, the whole world must resist Putin who wants to restore the Soviet Union,” said a French teacher, Meri Tordia, 55. “Ukraine is bleeding and the world is watching and talking about sanctions that can’t stop Putin,” she added tearfully.

“Our people are dying”

In Rome, it is a torchlight procession with thousands of participants who marched Friday evening to the Colosseum.

“Putin, murderer! “, “Yes to peace, no to war”, “Banish Russia from Swift”, could one read on banners. Other placards showed Russian President Vladimir Putin with a bloodstained hand on his face, or comparing him to Hitler with the words: “Do you know history when it repeats itself?” »

“We have always been close to the Ukrainian people […] From here, our feeling of helplessness is enormous. We can’t do anything else at the moment,” Maria Sergi, 40, an Italian born in Russia, told AFP.

Vladimir Putin “has done a lot of harm, even to his own people. We have many friends who have suffered enormously because of his politics,” she added.

In Athens on Friday evening, in front of the Russian Embassy, ​​more than 2,000 people gathered at the call of the Greek Communist Party and the radical left party Syriza. Traditionally pro-Russian, these parties have denounced “the invasion of Ukraine by Russia” and an “imperialist war against a people”.

These demonstrations of solidarity are not confined to Europe: in Montreal, dozens of people did not hesitate on Friday afternoon to face a snowstorm to protest under the windows of the Russian Consulate General.

” Anger ”

“Putin, take your hands off Ukraine,” they chanted in chorus. “I am against this war,” Elena Lelièvre, a 37-year-old Russian engineer, told AFP. “I hope this is the beginning of the end of this regime.”

Hair hidden under a green cap, Ivan Puhachov, a computer science student at the University of Montreal, said he was “terrified” by the situation, pleading for the sending of additional military equipment to his country, where his wife lives. family.

Some protesters held a covered portrait of Vladimir Putin in a bloody hand, others carried Ukrainian flags that fluttered in the wind. In recent days, other demonstrations have also been organized in Halifax, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Toronto.

In Argentina, nearly 2,000 people, including Ukrainian immigrants and Argentine descendants of Ukrainians, demonstrated in Buenos Aires on Friday, asking the Russian Embassy for “the unconditional withdrawal” of the troops of “the assassin” Putin.

Wearing a Ukrainian flag, dressed in traditional costumes, carrying signs in Spanish, Ukrainian or English saying “Stop the war” or “Putin get your hands out of Ukraine”, the demonstrators chanted slogans in Ukrainian, such as “Glory to Ukraine, glory to its heroes” and sang Ukrainian and Argentine anthems.

“Russians and Ukrainians have a lot in common. So my main feeling is anger: the last thing I imagined was that the Russians were going to come and kill my people,” Tetiana Abramchenko, 40, told AFP on the verge of tears, arriving with her daughter in Argentina in 2014, after the Russian annexation of Crimea.

Tokyo, Taipei, Curitiba (Brazil), New York and Washington have also been the scene of protests.