Thousands of people demonstrated on Sunday in the center of the German capital, Berlin, to protest against the military operation launched by Russia against Ukraine.
Approximately 30,000 men, women and children participated in a demonstration in central Berlin to condemn the war in Ukraine, a large number of them waving the flags of the former Soviet Republic and raising banners with slogans against the Russian invasion.
The demonstrators, including elderly people in wheelchairs and children in carts pushed by their parents, gathered near the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of divided Germany during the Cold War, and marched through the streets of Berlin, chanting slogans and songs from time to time.
“Stop Putin”, “Stop the war”, “Russian soldiers, go home” and “Solidarity with Ukraine” were among the slogans carried by banners or posters.
Hostilities continue across Ukraine as the Russian war on Ukraine enters its 18th day.
More than 2,100 residents of the city have been killed since the start of the Russian war on Ukraine, the AFP news agency quoted the mayor of Mariupol as saying.
Developments of the 18th day of the war
The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces had taken control of Blagodatnoy, Vladimirovka, Pavlovka and Nikolskaya on the outskirts of Mykolaiv (southwest of the country).
In the east of the country, the ministry added that Lugansk forces are besieging a number of areas on the outskirts of the city of Popasnia, and Donetsk forces are besieging the cities of Sever and Donetsk from the eastern and southern sides.
To the west, the governor of the city of Lviv said that the dead and wounded were caused by Russian air strikes on a military facility. And the Lviv authorities said that 8 Russian missiles targeted the center for keeping international peace and security.
For its part, Kyiv accused Russian forces of bombing a peacekeeping center in Lviv, near the Polish border, and said that the bombing killed 35 people.
On the other hand, Donetsk separatists accused the Ukrainian army of bombing their positions, and Moscow said it had shot down a Ukrainian missile launcher, and vowed to target foreign military aid convoys to Ukraine.
“Above all, it is extremely important for Ukrainians to see that we will not forget them, neither in two weeks nor after,” said protester Helen Kras.