Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany criticises Russian anti-war rally in Berlin

Oleksii Makeiev, Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany, has described the Russian opposition's anti-war march in Berlin as a public relations stunt.

Source: Spiegel, as reported by European Pravda

Details: On Sunday, more than two and a half years after Russia attacked Ukraine, there will be an anti-war march in Berlin. Leading Russian opposition figures in exile, including Yulia Navalnaya (the wife of the late Alexei Navalny), Ilya Yashin, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, have organised the march. Kremlin critics are currently hoping to re-energise the splintered Russian opposition in exile. The demonstration is conducted under the banner "No to Putin! No to war in Ukraine! Freedom for political prisoners!"

Participants urge the removal of Russian soldiers from Ukraine, the impeachment of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his prosecution as a war criminal. The action's objective is "to unite all those who oppose the aggressive and criminal policy of Vladimir Putin – against the war in Ukraine and against political repression inside Russia."

According to the organisers, the march will begin in Henrietta Hertz Park and proceed up Friedrichstrasse to the Russian Embassy on Unter den Linden. About 3,000 demonstrators are anticipated.

The Ukrainian ambassador criticised the anti-Putin demonstration. Oleksii Makeiev, Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany since October 2022, described the planned gathering as "a November walk that is both unworthy and insignificant."

He asserts that the rally is a "PR action, the target group of which is not the Russian population, but the German media and politicians." That's "a creative application by an unnecessary non-governmental organisation for funding from the federal government and the EU." Makeiev claims that the struggle is not against the Russian regime, but rather for Germany's attention. According to the envoy, the Russians gave the Ukrainians the authority to choose who the "good Russians" are.

Yulia Navalnaya said on the day of the scheduled gathering that she hoped to demonstrate "that many Russians are against Putin and against war." According to her, the enormous number of participants will demonstrate that there is "another Russia, not militaristic, but free." In an interview with the Russian exile TV channel Dozhd, she also stated that the opposition has "no plan" for ending Putin's 24-year dominance.

Germany, home to over 250,000 people, has the EU's largest Russian emigrant group. Berlin is regarded as the primary shelter for politically oppressed Russians.

According to European Pravda, at the Web Summit 2024 conference in Lisbon, Ukrainian activists turned on an air-raid warning signal and chanted "Stop Russia" during Yulia Navalnaya's address.

The conference organisers invited her as "a powerful voice for democracy and human rights."

Yulia Navalnaya proclaimed her political ambitions in Russia following her husband's murder in a Russian colony earlier this year, and she began engaging with foreign leaders.

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