"No to war!": Protesters worldwide rally in support of Ukraine
HUNDREDS of thousands massed in cities across the globe yesterday to demand an end to Vladimir Putin's brutal war against Ukraine.
There were huge demonstrations in central London and Berlin, Germany, where more than 100,000 gathered in front of the symbolic Brandenburg Gate. But mass arrests were reported in St Petersburg and 32 Russian cities, where anti-war protests took place for the fourth day in a row. The peaceful demonstrators chanting "No to war!" were grabbed by police in riot gear and dragged into vans. The OVD-Info human rights group, which tracks political arrests, claimed 356 people had been taken away.
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Russia's government has now threatened to jail "traitors" who provide any form of help to Ukraine for 20 years.
In Berlin, families turned up with their children and waved a sea of yellow and blue Ukrainian flags to show solidarity with Kyiv. Some carried placards with slogans including "Hands off Ukraine".
One declared: "Putin, go to therapy and leave Ukraine and the world in peace."
Hans Georg Kieler, 49, said: "It is important to me for Germany to show that it is standing for democracy in Europe."
Valeria Moiseeva, 35, whose mother is hiding in a cellar in Kyiv, had a stark message for the invaders. She said: "I hate Russia, I hate all Russians."
And in his strongest public comments yet, Pope Francis condemned the "diabolical, perverse" logic of launching a war in Ukraine.
He said "those who make war forget humanity" and called for corridors to welcome Ukrainian refugees fleeing the "tragic" invasion of their homeland.
He added warfare "relies on the diabolical and perverse logic of weapons, which is the farthest thing from God's will".
At Wembley Stadium, there was a minute's applause before the League Cup final between Chelsea and Liverpool and both teams placed wreaths of blue and yellow flowers on the pitch.
A service of prayers was held yesterday at St Alban Ukrainian Catholic Church in Nottingham.
In Spain's capital, Madrid banners accused the Russian president of being like Adolf Hitler and committing genocide.
In Melbourne, thousands marched in protest, while a rally in Amsterdam called for refugees to be accepted.
Demonstrators in South Korea's capital Seoul protested outside the country's Russian embassy, as did Ukrainians outside the United Nations office in Erbil in northern Iraq.
