In Belgrade, several hundred Russians protested against the war in Ukraine
Several hundred citizens of the Russian Federation who came to Serbia after February 24, on Christmas Eve according to the Gregorian calendar a protest against the war in Ukraine was held in the center of Belgrade, the correspondent of Radio Liberty reported.
The organizer of the actions was the “Russian Democratic Society”, which was founded in early November. The society, which calls itself anti-war and anti-fascist, was founded by Russians. They came to Serbia to avoid mobilization and established private companies in the country, mainly in the information technology sector. Serbian media specify that Russian citizens have registered at least 300 companies over the past ten months.
Under the slogan “Peace to Ukraine, freedom to Russia”, the activists marched through the central streets of Belgrade. One of the speakers, Petro Nikitin, said that the aggression against Ukraine is “not a Russian war, but a war of Vladimir Putin.” The police did not allow the protesters near the building of the Russian Embassy. The protest ended without incident.
Citizens of Belgrade did not join the demonstrators, who did not have white-blue-white flags and banners with the inscriptions “Putin, keep your hands off Ukraine”, “Putin to The Hague” and reminded that ten months have already passed since the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine.
According to unofficial data, several tens of thousands of Russians, mostly young people, found temporary shelter in Serbia. They do business here freely, international sanctions are not applied against other companies registered in Serbia.
Serbia did not recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea and the recent pseudo-referendums in the occupied countries of Ukraine, but refuses to introduce sanctions against Russia, which the European Union requires of it.