ROME\u2014 Pro-Ukraine protests erupted across the world, as thousands took to the streets from London to Rome to Barcelona to denounce Russia\u2019s assault on its neighbour.<\/P>
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Moscow\u2019s invasion has sparked global outcry and prompted punishing sanctions from the West, including some against Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.<\/P>
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On Saturday, rallies were held in cities across the world to join the chorus of condemnation and urge an end to the bloodshed.<\/P>
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Switzerland saw thousands of people gather across the country, including about 1,000 outside the United Nations\u2019 European headquarters in Geneva.<\/P>
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Demonstrators draped in Ukraine\u2019s national colours of blue and yellow flocked to the \u201cBroken Chair\u201d \u2014 a large sculpture symbolising the civilian victims of war.<\/P>
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The protesters demanded tougher actions from the government, which has so far shied away from imposing strict measures, choosing instead to stick closer to its traditional \u201cneutral\u201d stance.<\/P>
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Swiss-based Russians joined in to show their opposition to the war, holding signs saying \u201cI am Russian\u201d.<\/P>
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In Russia\u2019s neighbour Finland, thousands of people gathered in the capital Helsinki shouting \u201cRussia out, down with Putin!\u201d<\/P>
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More than 1,000 demonstrators answered the call of trade unions and NGOs in central Rome, huddling around a podium bearing the words \u201cAgainst War\u201d.<\/P>
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Thousands of people had taken part in a torch-lit procession to the Colosseum, one of the Italian capital\u2019s major landmarks, on Friday evening.<\/P>
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Putin was the march\u2019s main target as banners caricatured him as an assassin with bloodstained hands and compared him to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler with the words: \u201cCan you recognise when history repeats itself?\u201d<\/P>
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\u201cWe\u2019ve always been close to the Ukrainian people. Our feeling of powerlessness is huge,\u201d Maria Sergi, a 40-year-old Russian-born Italian, said.<\/P>
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In the southern French cities of Montpellier and Marseille, hundreds marched on Saturday chanting \u201cStop war, stop Putin\u201d, while further protests were also expected in Paris.<\/P>
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Anti-war demonstrators were also out in force in Barcelona, numbering around 1,000 on Saturday according to local police.<\/P>
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Dimitri, a Russian designer living in Barcelona, said he feared sanctions would set Russia\u2019s development back.<\/P>
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\u201cWe\u2019re all going to suffer,\u201d the 37-year-old said.<\/P>
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In Britain, hundreds of protesters headed to Russia\u2019s embassy in London, with some defacing the street sign of St Petersburgh Place opposite the embassy with fake blood.<\/P>
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In Georgia, almost 30,000 people hit the streets of Tbilisi Friday night, waving Ukrainian and Georgian flags and singing both countries\u2019 national anthems.<\/P>
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Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine resonates strongly in Georgia, a fellow ex-Soviet republic that suffered a devastating Russian invasion in 2008.<\/P>
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\u201cWe have sympathy for the Ukrainians, perhaps more than other countries, because we\u2019ve experienced Russia\u2019s barbaric aggression on our soil,\u201d Niko Tvauri, a 32-year-old taxi driver, said.<\/P>
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Teacher Meri Tordia added: \u201cUkraine is bleeding, the world watches and talks about sanctions that won\u2019t stop Putin.\u201d<\/P>
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More than 2,000 protesters gathered outside the Russian embassy in Greece\u2019s capital Athens on Friday evening following an appeal by the traditionally pro-Russian Communist and left-wing Syriza parties.<\/P>
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More protests were reported in Athens and the northern city of Thessaloniki on Saturday.<\/P>
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The shockwaves from Moscow\u2019s invasion of its neighbour have reverberated beyond Europe.<\/P>
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In Argentina, Ukrainians and Argentines with Ukrainian ancestry were among the almost 2,000 people who descended on Russia\u2019s embassy in Buenos Aires on Friday.<\/P>
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Wreathed in Ukrainian flags and wearing traditional Ukrainian clothing, protesters bore signs in Spanish, English and Ukrainian demanding a Russian withdrawal.<\/P>
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They chanted \u201cGlory to Ukraine, glory to its heroes\u201d and the national anthems of Argentina and Ukraine.<\/P>
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Among the crowd was Tetiana Abramchenko, who moved to Argentina with her daughter in 2014 following Russia\u2019s annexation of Ukraine\u2019s Crimea peninsula.<\/P>
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\u201cMy overriding feeling is anger. The last thing I imagined was Russians coming to kill my people,\u201d the 40-year-old said as she fought back tears.<\/P>
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In Canada, dozens of demonstrators braved a snowstorm in Montreal to protest outside Russia\u2019s consulate on Friday afternoon.<\/P>
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\u201cI am against this war. I hope this is the beginning of the end of this regime,\u201d said Russian Elena Lelievre, a 37-year-old engineer.<\/P>
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Ivan Puhachov, a Ukrainian student at the University of Montreal, said the situation \u201cterrified\u201d him as his family lives in Ukraine.<\/P>
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Protests also took place in New York, Washington, Taiwan and Brazil.<\/P>
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Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK<\/P>
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ROME\u2014 Pro-Ukraine protests erupted across the world, as thousands took to the streets from London to Rome to Barcelona to denounce Russia\u2019s assault on its neighbour.Moscow\u2019s invasion has sparked global outcry and prompted punishing sanctions from the W…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n