Opponents of Putin protest in Berlin against the war in Ukraine

2024-11-17 16:39:01, Kosova & Bota CNA

Exiled opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his unprovoked war on Ukraine have gathered in Berlin, Germany to protest the war that began in 2022.

The protest is being held as the opposition struggles to maintain influence after prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in February in still unclear circumstances while serving a prison sentence.

The Russian opposition has also faced decades of repression, which has escalated since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, prompting many Putin critics to flee Russia.

Protesters are planned to march towards the Russian Embassy, ??located near the Brandenburg Gate.

The protest was co-organized by Kremlin critics Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who were both released from Russian prisons in a prisoner swap in August.

The co-organizer of the protest is Navalny's widow, Yulia Navalnaya.

"The march aims to unite all those who oppose Vladimir Putin's aggressive war in Ukraine and political repression in Russia," organizers said in a statement.

The opposition said they have three main demands: the "immediate withdrawal" of troops from Ukraine, the trial of Putin as a "war criminal" and the release of all political prisoners in Russia.

Before the protest, there were disagreements on social networks about whether the Russian flag should be used in the protest.

The announcement of the protest used photos from a 2014 rally in Moscow protesting Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. However, critics said that Russia's colors have been discredited by the country's brutal war against Ukraine.

While this sparked debate last month, Yashin stated that "discussions about flags obscure the purpose of the event we want to hold in Berlin."

Ukrainian officials and others before the protest were skeptical.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Oleksiy Makeev, criticized the decision, describing it as "walking without dignity and without consequences" and adding that it illustrates the "weakness" of the opposition.

Makeev, in an op-ed in Zeit newspaper, argued that the three opposition figures are not doing enough to support Kiev and call on their fellow citizens to protest in Russia.

Even Vitsche, an association of Ukrainians in exile in Germany, said that the event "failed to convey a clear message" of support./ REL