“Montreal with the Ukrainians! Glory to Ukraine! More than a thousand people draped in yellow and blue flooded Canada Square on Sunday to shout their opposition to the war. Many fear that the fighting will spread to other countries.
Anna Pushkina was born to a Ukrainian mother and a Russian father. “Devastated” by the news of the invasion, she had no choice but to choose sides. “No to war”, she wrote on a sign in the colors of Ukraine and Russia. “In such circumstances, I have a fairly determined position towards what is happening in Russia. Today, I cannot remain silent. »
Around her, her Moldavian, Russian and Ukrainian friends share her sadness and concern. All maintain contact with family or friends who live on either side of the front line. And the trenches interfere in their respective families.
“For us, emotionally, it’s very heavy,” says Maria Danielenko, of Russian origin. We argue too. Anna has been quarreling with her parents, who are hiding their heads in the sand for a bit. I argued with my mother, who does not want to see the situation. […] Outside, we are all friends, regardless of our nationalities. That’s what’s shocking. »
This solidarity between Slavic nations is not the prerogative of all either. At the center of the rally, Yuri Evsyutin, from the Kiev region, resents all those who take up arms. “It’s not just Putin’s war, otherwise he himself would have a gun in his hands. It is also the war of the Russian people behind Putin. »
Like him, many do not hide their anger at the surge of violence in Europe. Under a Chechen flag, Tamara Ramzaïeva ignites against this Russia which wars since centuries against its people. “Putin took away my country, my childhood and my father. I am very supportive of Ukraine. The real Chechens who have seen the war, who have suffered, are for the freedom of Ukraine. The two wars in Chechnya have caused so much suffering. We had a good taste of Putin’s bombs and we know that he has no humanity. »
Tamara Ramzaeva insists that a group of 500 Chechens, the Dudayev battalion, is currently assisting the Ukrainian soldiers.
A little further, it is under a Polish flag that Margaryta Babish calls for solidarity. “My country went through a war in the past. We are doing something that no one has done for us. Poles know what Ukrainians need. »
In addition to solidarity, the fear of seeing violence spill over into Europe runs through the speeches of demonstrators. “We want the war in Ukraine to be stopped, because if, at the moment, it’s just Ukraine’s problem, it could quickly become the problem of many people”, worries Yaroslav Pryshchepa. At his side, his mother, whose roots go back to the currently disputed region of Luhansk, struggles to contain her tears. ” I speak Russian. I speak Ukrainian. I have relatives in Russia. The problem is not the Russians, it really is Putin. He lost his mind. We want Russian people to hear us here. Some mothers send their children to war, but do not know the country where they will fight. »
Worldwide
Dozens of such protests rocked several cities around the world on Sunday, including Washington, Toronto and Tel Aviv. In Europe, protesters numbered in the tens of thousands. In Berlin, at least 100,000 people, according to the police, gathered in the center, 70,000 in Prague, 40,000 in Madrid, 15,000 in Amsterdam or 10,000 in Copenhagen.
We want the war in Ukraine to be stopped, because if, at the moment, it’s just Ukraine’s problem, it could quickly become the problem of many people.
In Russia too, a few thousand people once again defied the ban on demonstrations to say “No to war”. These gatherings which led to more than 2000 arrests, according to an NGO.
In Saint Petersburg, the country’s second largest city, around 400 people gathered in a central square to show their opposition to the invasion of Ukraine.
With Agence France-Presse