We cannot run – we will stand and fight
More than 5,000 people marched against Russia in Kyiv on Saturday, carrying banners vowing “Ukrainians will resist”.
Traffic in the city ground to a halt as the anti-war rally snaked its way from Shevchenko Park to Maidan Square, birthplace of the 2014 revolution.
Protesters of all ages draped in yellow and blue Ukrainian flags, chanted: “Ukraine united will never be defeated.”
One banner described
Russian leader Vladimir
Putin as a “mass murderer” and a “war criminal”. Another simply said: ”#sayNOtoPutin.”
Leading the march, Illia Kononov of the Capitulation Resistance
Movement, said: “So many people have turned out to show their support for Ukraine and to tell the world that we don’t want war, but if it comes – we will fight back.
“We also want to thank all the countries such as the UK which have supported us morally and given us weapons to deter the Russians.”
The march halted at Maidan, where the protesters sang the Ukrainian national anthem.
Physics student Elvira, 18, said: “I’m scared, but it’s good to see so many people coming out to make their feelings known.”
Another marcher, Andreii, 34, who had fought in the Ukrainian army in Donbas for three years, said he was “seriously worried”.
He added: “When I heard that the US and UK governments were telling their people to return home, it made me think this was actually going to happen. But we are home, and that means we
can’t run away anywhere – we have to stand and fight.”