Participants chanted slogans in support of Ukraine and against Russia’s aggression, including “Glory to Ukraine,” “Save Mariupol” and “Putin is a p***k,” Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Gathered under the motto “Russia, go f*** yourself,” they also sang Ukraine’s national anthem and the country’s popular folk song, Red Viburnum.
‘Russian troops can march through Warsaw only as war prisoners’
The rally was fronted by activists dressed in Russian uniforms and wearing pig masks, according to news outlets.
They were handcuffed and escorted by a man portraying as a Ukrainian soldier, it was reported.
“The message from the Polish people is that if Russian troops want to march through Warsaw, they can do so only as war prisoners,” said the Euromaidan Warszawa group’s Natalia Panchenko.
‘Ukrainians are not alone’
She added that the rally “aimed to show those Ukrainians who are sheltering from bombs that they are not alone, that the world hasn’t forgotten about them.”
“They remain in our thoughts and we are fighting for them all the time,” the activist said.
Waving Ukrainian and Polish flags, protesters marched from Defilad Square in the centre of the city to the Russian embassy, where they called on the international community to send weapons to Ukraine, among other demands.
Speakers included Polish lawmaker Michał Szczerba and Ukrainian campaigners who thanked Poland for supporting their country amid the Russian invasion, the PAP news agency reported.
The protest was held by the Nationwide Women’s Strike (OSK) group, the Committee for the Defence of Democracy (KOD) and the pro-Ukrainian organisation Euromaidan Warszawa, PAP reported.
Warsaw police said the rally was "peaceful and incident free.”
Monday is day 75 of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, rmf24.pl