About 2,000 demonstrators, mostly Russian-speaking, organized a rally in Cologne on Sunday to demand to stop Germany supporting Ukraine lifts sanctions imposed after Russia invasion of her neighbor in February.
The march organized by the Russian-speaking diaspora groups in The cityI was met By a few dozen opposition protesters who It was also Collected in the shadow of Huge Gothic cathedral in Cologne to express support for Ukraine.
Germany home for about 3 million people of Russian ethnic background, many of They were heavily exposed to the Kremlin’s narratives about world via Russian state-controlled television, which is widespread available.
“Germany in Elena Kolbasnikova, one of the organizers, reiterated President Vladimir Putin’s assertion that Russia invasion Protects Russian speakers in Eastern Ukraine.
“How will we live this winter?”
Although the Russian diaspora in Germany is vast, there have been relatively few pro-Putin rallies since then. start of the war.
many of On Sunday, protesters raised Russian flags or banners with NATO messages across the Atlantic military cross alliance out with Red line.
Donations
Organizers collect donations for Russian-backed separatist forces in Donbass, eastern Ukraine region.
A German-speaker, a baker, said high gas prices would leave him jobless by the end of The year and blame it on Germany for Nord Stream 2 pipeline refused to open. Berlin says The so far empty pipeline is a deception because Moscow does not face capacity constraints and refuses to send gas.
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz said he was confident Germany had enough gas to get through the winter. Russia linked to the Kremlin media They objected to this, saying that Western Europe would freeze this winter for want of Russian gas.
Russians swelled more among the diaspora who left Country in protest against invasion.
“Come here show That there are many speakers of Russian who I think Putin slipped into a fascist regime,” said Ivan Belousov, one of the dissidents.
He said he was imprisoned on Politically motivated charges in Russia flees after his release.
Footage from the scene showed police arresting at least one one demonstrator.
