Anniversary of the invasion

Large protest in Vienna: Sea of lights against Putin

A sea of lights against Putin

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

Ukrainians in Austria protested against the Russian war of aggression with a large rally in Vienna on Saturday evening. Exactly two years ago, Vladimir Putin had their country invaded. The participants wanted to send a "signal" - to Ukraine and parts of Austria.

Russians had also previously held an anti-war demonstration in Vienna. According to the organizers, around 250 people responded to a call from the "Russians against war" initiative.

Ambassador calls for cohesion
"The Ukrainian community in Austria has gathered here again to show its solidarity and send a signal from Vienna to Ukraine and other parts of Austria," commented the Ukrainian ambassador in Vienna, Wassyl Chymynez, on the sidelines of the demonstration.

Impressions of the demonstration in Vienna:

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Fotos

This signal was easy to understand: Ukrainians wanted peace and to live in a free country, but they had to stick together in defense of the country.

Applause for four parties
During the stopover in front of Parliament, members of the National Council and the European Parliament from the Greens, NEOS, ÖVP and SPÖ addressed the numerous participants in the demonstration. Their assurances that they would continue to support Ukraine were met with great applause.

Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen also addressed Ukraine with a message of greeting:

"We stand behind you as four parties in parliament and we will not let Ukraine down," shouted Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic (Greens) in a short incendiary speech. Similar statements were also made by the other parties. Andreas Schieder (SPÖ) said that they had admittedly met on a sad day. "Ukraine must be free and Putin must atone for his actions", said the MEP.

After rallies on Heldenplatz and in front of the parliament, with 2000 participants according to the police, part of the demonstration marched to Karlsplatz in a "March of Light".

Russians against Putin
The demonstration by "Russians against war" in the city center was the largest anti-war manifestation of the Russian community in Austria to date. In addition to militant tones in the spirit of the dead opposition leader Alexei Navalny, there was also talk of mourning, with some demonstrators crying.

Russians demonstrated against Russia's war of aggression in Vienna on Saturday.

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH, Krone KREATIV)

"We are demonstrating today, as we did two years ago and a year ago, against the Russian government's decision, expressing our solidarity with all the victims of the war and are here together on this day of mourning," said one of the organizers of the demonstration on Michaelerplatz in Vienna's 1st district. She asked not to be named for fear of possible reprisals against relatives in Russia.

Fear of persecution
The organizers of "Russians against war" had already internally pointed out the risk of prosecution in Russia in connection with anti-war slogans and recommended that exposed participants cover some of their faces. After the murder of a Russian defector in Spain, there is also a fear among Russians in Austria that this could happen again in Vienna.

Devastated cities, hundreds of thousands of deaths and torture in Ukraine would not leave people in Russia cold either, explained another organizer. "But it's not possible to speak freely about it in Russia at the moment: Anyone who speaks their mind publicly (against the war, ed.) is persecuted," she explained.

"Russia will be free"
The demonstrators in Vienna left no doubt about their stance, even in public: "Stop Russian aggression", "Putin to The Hague" and "Putin is a murderer" were chanted. They also shouted "Russia will be free", a slogan used in particular by Alexei Navalny.

The fate of the opposition politician was sporadically addressed on posters: for example, there was talk of Putin handing over his body to Navalny's mother - which has since happened.

Navalny's fate moves people around the world. (symbolic image)

(Bild: AFP)

"These demonstrations, especially when they take place in many European cities, show that these Russians outside Russia have remained a part of the Russian political landscape, explained the prominent Russian political scientist Kirill Rogov on the sidelines of the event. He described the rallies as an "important sign for Europe".

Rogov has been working at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna since March 2022; in Russia itself, he was stigmatized as a "foreign agent" by the Ministry of Justice.