Protests erupt in Berlin over Russian military aggression in Ukraine

Berlin, Germany

April, May, June 2022

An estimated 5000 people held a peaceful protest outside the Bundestag (Germany’s parliament) yesterday (6th April 2021).

Slogans were chanted throughout the demonstration, while there were also emotional accounts by civilians who had fled the war during the last weeks.

Germany receives around a quarter of its total energy supply from Russia and has been one of the countries that has so far failed to completely cut off their dependence on Vladimir Putin. This has consequently lead to strong accusations that Olaf Scholz’s government is effectively subsidising the war to the tune of around 200 million euros a day.

The second part of the protest – organised by The Alliance of Ukrainian Organisations – involved thousands of protestors lying down on the grass in front of the German parliament in order to commemorate the victims of the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian flags were draped across shoulders, while many painted bloody tears running down their faces. Most of the demonstrators had their hands behind their backs and their eyes closed in reminder of the pictures that came to light in the last week from the Ukrainian town of Bucha, where hundreds of civilians were found shot. The massacre, which was discovered after Russian troops evacuated the city, suggested an execution, as many of the victims were found with their hands tied up behind their backs and bullet wounds to the head.