Around 2,000 people marched through Paris on Saturday to show their support for Ukraine, police said, just days ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
Demonstrators carried placards and chanted slogans, including “We support Ukraine against Putin, who is killing it" and “Frozen Russian assets must be confiscated; they belong to Ukraine.”
“In public opinion, there is massive support for Ukraine that has not wavered since the first day of the full-scale invasion by the Russian army on 24 February 2022,” European Parliament member Raphael Glucksmann told AFP.
“On the other hand, within the French political class, there are increasingly frequent calls for giving up. Voices of capitulation are growing louder on both the far left and far right,” he added.
Police estimated the turnout at around 2,000 participants.
Among the marchers, Irina Kryvosheia, a Ukrainian who moved to France several years ago, “thanked with all her heart the people present”. She said the demonstration reminded everyone that “what has been happening for four years is not normal; it is not right ”.
Kryvosheia said she remained in daily contact with her parents in Kyiv, who reported being deprived of heating, electricity and running water for several days due to intense Russian bombardments.
Francois Grunewald, head of the “Comité d’Aide Médicale Ukraine", had just returned from a month-long mission in the country, where the organisation has delivered around 40 generators since the start of the year.
Russia’s full-scale invasion sent shockwaves across the world, triggering the bloodiest and most destructive conflict in Europe since the Second World War. Tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of military personnel have been killed, and millions of refugees have fled Ukraine, where vast areas have been devastated by fighting.
Russia currently occupies nearly 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory, and its sustained attacks on energy infrastructure have provoked a major energy crisis.
