Tens of thousands rally in Berlin against Russian intervention in Ukraine

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) – Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in downtown Berlin on Sunday to protest against the Russian military intervention in Ukraine.

As part of the motto: “Stop the war. Peace for Ukraine and All Europe,” an alliance of trade unions, churches, environmental protection organizations and peace groups demonstrated against the Russian attack that began on Thursday.

According to police circles at least 100,000 people took part in the rally, while organizers claimed that more than 500,000 attended the demonstration.

Frank Werneke, the chairman of Verdi labor union, said in view of the dramatic situation, the demonstration was a strong sign of solidarity. "This is also important: Putin is not Russia. A new era has begun ... Peace remains the goal. Unions are part of the peace movement," he said.

Werneke added that oligarchs should not be allowed to earn millions as people are killed in Ukraine, stressing respect and solidarity for activists in Russia who demonstrated against the conflict.

Berlin, which earlier pledged 5,000 helmets for Kyiv, made a historic shift on Saturday and now wants to deliver weapons from its military stocks to Ukraine.

It also agreed with other allies to exclude Russian financial institutions from the SWIFT banking communications network.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the “special military operation,” days after recognizing two separatist-held enclaves in eastern Ukraine. He claimed that Moscow had no plan to occupy its neighbor, but wanted to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.