Pro-Ukraine demonstrations erupted across the world on Saturday, as thousands took to the streets from London to New York to Tehran to denounce Russia’s assault on its neighbor.
Moscow’s invasion has sparked a global outcry and prompted punishing sanctions from the West, some directed against Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.
Rallies were held in cities across the world to join the chorus of condemnation and urge an end to the bloodshed.
In Switzerland, thousands of people gathered across the country, including about 1,000 outside the United Nations’ European headquarters in Geneva
Demonstrators draped in Ukraine’s national colours of blue and yellow flocked to the “Broken Chair” – a large sculpture symbolizing the civilian victims of war.
The protesters demanded tougher actions from the government, which has so far avoided imposing strict measures, choosing instead to stick closer to its traditional “neutral” stance.
Swiss-based Russians joined in to show their opposition to the war, holding signs saying “I am Russian”.
In Russia’s neighbour Finland, thousands of people gathered in the capital Helsinki shouting “Russia out, down with Putin!”
Around 3,000 people gathered in Vienna, with home-made placards bearing slogans such as including “Stop the War” and speeches from Austria’s Ukrainian community.
More than 1,000 demonstrators answered the call of trade unions and NGOs in central Rome, huddling around a podium bearing the words “Against War”.
Thousands of people had taken part in a torch-lit procession to Rome’s Colosseum, one of the Italian capital’s major landmarks, on Friday evening.
Putin was the march’s main target as banners caricatured him as an assassin with bloodstained hands and compared him to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler with the words: “Can you recognise when history repeats itself?”
“We’ve always been close to the Ukrainian people,” said Maria Sergi, a 40-year-old Russian-born Italian. “Our feeling of powerlessness is huge.”
In the southern French cities of Montpellier and Marseille, hundreds marched on Saturday chanting “Stop war, stop Putin”, while further protests were also expected in Paris.
Anti-war demonstrators were also out in force in Barcelona, numbering around 1,000 on Saturday according to local police.
Dimitri, a Russian designer living in Barcelona, said he feared sanctions would set Russia’s development back.
“We’re all going to suffer,” said the 37-year-old.
In Britain, hundreds of protesters headed to Russia’s embassy in London, with some defacing the street sign of St Petersburg Place opposite the embassy with fake blood.
And around 50 people in Tehran assembled by Kyiv’s embassy to Iran, an AFP correspondent saw, some holding candles and Ukrainian flags and chanting against the war and Putin.
Protests were also reported in Israel, Estonia and New York on Saturday.
In Georgia, almost 30,000 people hit the streets of Tbilisi on Friday night, waving Ukrainian and Georgian flags and singing both countries’ national anthems.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine resonates strongly in Georgia, a fellow ex-Soviet republic that suffered a devastating Russian invasion in 2008.
“We have sympathy for the Ukrainians, perhaps more than other countries, because we’ve experienced Russia’s barbaric aggression on our soil,” said Niko Tvauri, a 32-year-old taxi driver.
Teacher Meri Tordia added: “Ukraine is bleeding, the world watches and talks about sanctions that won’t stop Putin.”
More than 2,000 protesters gathered outside the Russian embassy in Greece’s capital Athens on Friday evening following an appeal by the traditionally pro-Russian Communist and left-wing Syriza parties.
In Canada, dozens of demonstrators braved a snowstorm in Montreal to protest outside Russia’s consulate on Friday afternoon.
“I am against this war. I hope this is the beginning of the end of this regime,” said Russian Elena Lelievre, a 37-year-old engineer.
Ivan Puhachov, a Ukrainian student at the University of Montreal, said the situation “terrified” him as his family lives in Ukraine.
