Distinguished Russian opposition figures led a march of no less than 1,000 folks in central Berlin Sunday, criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin and his struggle in Ukraine and calling for democracy in Russia.
Behind a banner that learn “No Putin. No Struggle,” the protesters have been led by Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of high Putin critic Alexei Navalny, in addition to Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who have been free of Russian detention in a high-profile prisoner trade this summer time.
Shouting “Russia with out Putin” and different chants in Russian, the demonstrators held up indicators with a wide selection of messages on a crimson background, together with “Putin = Struggle” and “Putin is a assassin” in German.
Some marched with the flags of Russia or Ukraine, in addition to a white-blue-white flag utilized by some Russian opposition teams.
Organizers mentioned the march started close to Potsdamer Platz and went by way of the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie and was anticipated to finish exterior the Russian Embassy.
“The march calls for the instant withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, the trial of Vladimir Putin as a struggle legal, and the discharge of all political prisoners in Russia,” the protesters mentioned in an announcement.
Yashin, in an announcement earlier than the demonstration, mentioned demonstrators have been “utilizing the liberty we now have right here in Berlin to indicate the world: A peaceable, free, and civilized Russia exists.”
Navalnaya, Yashin and Kara-Murza have all billed Sunday’s rally as a present of unity at a time when current rounds of acrimony have roiled the anti-war camp.
Russia’s exiled anti-war opposition has to date largely failed to talk with one voice and current a transparent plan of motion.
The landmark East-West prisoner swap in August freed key dissidents and promised to reinvigorate a motion unmoored by the demise in jail of Navalny, a charismatic anti-corruption campaigner and arch-Kremlin foe.
As an alternative, tensions have spiked in current months, as Navalny’s allies and different distinguished dissidents swapped accusations that appeared to sprint any hopes of a united anti-Kremlin entrance.
Many opposition-minded Russians have voiced deep frustration with the infighting, and with what some view as efforts by rivaling teams to discredit and wrest affect from each other.