‘Stop Putin, stop war’: Protests sweep Europe against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Europe to protest Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with demonstrations targeting Russian embassies and landmark locations to call for more action to help Kyiv.

There were rallies in cities including Berlin, Paris and London on Saturday, while in Brussels thousands filled the road outside the Russian embassy to sing the Ukrainian anthem and chant slogans such as “stop Putin, stop war” and “sanctions for Putin, weapons for Ukraine”.

Daniela Mitrik, a 25-year-old student from Ukraine, held a sign appealing for Nato countries to impose a no-fly zone over her country, explaining that bombs were falling on the city where her family lives.

“My country dreams of living decently. Russia doesn’t let Ukraine be free. Russia is like a toxic boyfriend that won’t let go of Ukraine, and wants to keep her for him, and if he has to murder her he will.”

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“Putin has no guilt to murder people, to attack other countries,” she said, warning that the war could spread. “If people don’t help military now, in Ukraine, they will regret it later. We need now someone to step in and help.”

Beneath the blue and yellow flags, young Ukrainian men in the crowd discussed whether to travel to the country to join its defence, as the international crowd expressed their solidarity with the flags of Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, and the European Union.

“I would like Russia to go home,” said Mark, a long-time Ukrainian resident of Brussels.

“We’re a sovereign nation, we have our own borders, our own language, our own culture, we do not want bombs and our children to have to live through this war. This is going to become a humanitarian crisis and this will become a problem for the entire world.”

Meanwhile, at the Ukrainian embassy in the city, people left flowers and a sign reading “we stand with you”.

Protesters filled Paris’s Place de la République and gathered near Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. In London, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Downing Street for the second day running, appealing for more action from the government.

It adds to demonstrations of solidarity throughout the world in recent days, with landmark buildings including the Eiffel Tower, New York’s Empire State Building, and Turin’s Mole Antonelliana lit up in the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag.

On Friday in Latvia’s capital Riga, crowds serenaded the Russian embassy with Ukraine’s national anthem, singing “Ukraine’s glory hasn’t perished . . . Our enemies will vanish, like dew in the morning sun” in a televised event.

In Georgia, which Russia invaded in 2008, vast crowds gathered outside parliament buildings, objecting to the invasion and calling for the resignation of Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili after he declined to impose sanctions on Moscow.

Substantial protests have also taken place in cities across Russia, where media reported 1,800 people were arrested at rallies as prominent cultural figures made public their opposition to the war.