On Friday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an impassioned plea for worldwide protests for peace against the month-long Russian invasion of Ukraine. The President of Ukraine spoke to democratic leaders gathered in Brussels for emergency summits on the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

“The world must stop the war,” he said. “Come from your offices, your homes, your schools, and universities, come in the name of peace, come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life.”

And throughout the weekend people around the world answered his call.

Putin claims that it is doing a "special military operation" to demilitarize and "de-nazify" Ukraine. But as non-military casualties mount, no one believes Moscow’s claims it is not targeting civilians. Ukraine and its Western allies are insisting that Russia is carrying out an unprovoked invasion. And call it war.

In the center of London, a large crowd expressed solidarity with the people of Ukraine. 30,000 to 40,000 people gathered calling out that the embattled country would prevail against the much larger Russian forces.

Global protests for peace

The crowd in Prague’s Peace Square was estimated at 3,000. Many of the protesters waving Ukraine blue-and-white flags. And they carried signs with Putin’s face covered by the word "Killer." 

over a picture of President Vladimir Putin and chanting "No to War", protesters walked from Prague's Peace Square through the center of the Czech capital. Police put the number of marchers at about 3,000.

The Czech Republic is home to 45,000 Russian immigrants along with 200,000 Ukrainian immigrants. And in the last few weeks, 300,000 Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed here.

A former Russian soldier, Oleg Golopyatov who helped organize the protest said, "This is an act to show the Czech Republic and the Czech people, that Russians, are against Putin." 

Romanians along with Ukrainian refugees gathered in Bucharest this weekend for the third large protest against the war in Ukraine. Participants in the protest gathered in Victoriei Square. And then they marched through the streets chanting and carrying Ukraine flags. The march ended at the Russian embassy.

Over a week ago visual artists lit up the National Theater in downtown Bucharest. Messages of love and peace were projected on the front of the building. In the #ArtistsUnitedforPeace iconic buildings around the world were lit up with blue and yellow.

In Russia, peace demonstrations against the war in Ukraine are not allowed. And they were met with a heavy police response with police vans on stand-by to take them to jail.

 It is believed over 10,000 Russian citizens have been jailed in the last 30 days. Their crime is to protest for peace. This weekend approximately 668 more people were detained in 36 cities as of late afternoon Moscow time.

Anti-war protests were also staged in Warsaw, London, and the German cities of Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart.

Rallies in Rome, Milan, Florence, and Naples, Italy took place on Sunday.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis claimed that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “barbarism.”  He used his Sunday gathering in St. Peter’s Square to address 25,000 people. And he called for the war to stop “before cities are reduced to cemeteries.”