The Russian opposition in exile marched by means of central Berlin to protest in opposition to President Vladimir Putin and the conflict in Ukraine.
Several thousand supporters joined the march led by Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny, who died in February in a Russian jail. Navalny’s supporters say Putin is behind his loss of life, however the Kremlin denies this.
People carried the blue and white flag of the Russian opposition in addition to Ukrainian flags, whereas chanting “no to conflict” and “Putin is a assassin” in Russian.
Members of the Russian opposition have been exiled for the reason that Kremlin stepped up its crackdown on dissent, jailing tons of – maybe hundreds – of individuals for his or her political opinions.
The opposition says it has three principal calls for: the “rapid withdrawal” of troops from Ukraine, the trial of Putin as a “conflict prison” and the discharge of all political prisoners in Russia.
Ukraine was on the middle of the protest, which ended on the Russian embassy in Berlin.
The Russian opposition has usually been accused of not appreciating Ukrainian struggling and never doing sufficient to cease the nation’s conflict.
Oleg Orlov, co-president of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group Memorial, sentenced to jail in Russia for his anti-war and anti-government statements, held a banner studying: “Victory for Ukraine, Defeat for Putin, freedom for Russia.”
Orlov now lives in Germany in pressured exile after being launched throughout a prisoner change in August. He referred to as on Ukraine’s allies to proceed supplying weapons.
“Putin’s victory in Ukraine will protect his fascist regime in Russia for a few years,” he instructed the BBC.
“More weapons for Ukraine are essential, additionally for the way forward for Russia, as a result of if Putin wins, Russia will probably be defeated, that’s, the Russia that every one of us right here dream of and wish to construct.
“Those in Europe who discuss peace in any respect prices in Ukraine, those that are able to appease the aggressor, don’t perceive the mine they’re laying for the way forward for Europe itself.”
Speaking outdoors the Russian embassy, Vladimir Kara-Murza, additionally freed in August after spending greater than two years – together with 11 months in solitary confinement – in jail in Russia, referred to as the embassy “Russia’s nest of spies”. .
“It will probably be an embassy once more,” he added.
A younger IT employee, Anastasia, initially from Kazan in Russia, mentioned she left the nation in March 2022 as a result of she couldn’t keep in a rustic waging a conflict she opposed.
He mentioned it was “inconceivable to protest in an authoritarian state,” including that this was why the demonstration was so essential.
