Just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his decision to invade Ukraine, many signs of solidarity were visible in Brno, with flags raised around the city and a rally of support at the end of the day on Thursday. A further protest was arranged for Friday evening at the Russian Consulate. Credit: CB / Brno Daily.
Brno, Feb 26 (BD) – Yesterday, February 25th, the day after the launch of the military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Army, the yellow and blue flag of Ukraine appeared over many main monuments and buildings in Brno.
In the evening, a peaceful demonstration also took place. The attitude was at first solemn and silent, as protestors gathered in a compact crowd on the sidewalk facing the Russian consulate on the outskirts of the city centre. Many in the crowd of all ages were Ukrainian, but were joined by Czechs, Russians, and many other nationalities.
The silence was first broken by a few songs, then by a speech addressed to the consulate, which did not respond, delivered through a hissing loudspeaker. The crowd then remained, chanting slogans in several languages.
“Pandemic stops, war starts…great!” one disillusioned protester commented to her friend, while others chanted: “Save Ukraine, stop war” or “Putin puta, Putin puta!!”. The message of the event was above all in favour of peace, mutual respect and dialogue, and the organizers of the demonstration requested a strictly peaceful approach, intervening to calm things down, for example when one man began angrily shaking a bell through the gates into the consulate’s garden.
Subsequently, with support from many cars sounding their horns as they passed the location, protesters lined up to smear red paint with their fingers on the dozens of Ukrainian flags hung along the street facing the consulate, before the crowd slowly dissipated. A further protest is planned for Sunday at 12 noon.
