On Friday, thousands of demonstrators marched across Europe in protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A year after the start of the war, a destroyed Russian tank was displayed in front of the embassy in Berlin with a gun pointed at the entrance, writes AFP.

From Britain to the Baltic states, leaders from across Europe took part in the ceremonies, underscoring their unwavering support for Ukraine and paying tribute to the victims of the conflict.

A moment of silence was observed by the crowds at Freedom Square in the capital of Estonia, Tallinn, where the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, commemorated the victims.

In London, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also observed a moment of silence outside Downing Street before the Ukrainian national anthem was sung by two singers in traditional Ukrainian shirts.

A tank in the middle of Berlin…

The German capital, still a symbol of the Cold War with a wall that has divided it in two for nearly 28 years, saw 13 demonstrations that drew thousands of people: 11 for Ukraine, one against arms sales and one for peace. .

The largest of them, organized under the slogan “we will never forget”, had about 8,000 participants, according to the police spokeswoman.

At the Berlin International Film Festival, the action of solidarity with Ukraine gathered dozens of figures from the film world on the red carpet, including the head of the jury, the American star Kristen Stewart, who waved Ukrainian flags and posters in the colors of Ukraine.

In western Germany, between the cities of Osnabrück and Münster, around 18,000 people formed a human chain for peace, holding hands for several minutes.

In the morning, passers-by could see in the very heart of the German capital, a few steps away from the iconic Brandenburg Gate, a Russian tank that activists dragged at night to place in front of the Russian embassy.

The unusual image attracted many curious people, including students who visited the school on Friday morning.

“I was passing by and I saw a crowd, it’s strange to see a tank like this” in the middle of Berlin, Allen Ipen, a 22-year-old Indian student in the city, told AFP.

A 1985 T-72 B1 tank may have exploded on March 31, 2022, near Buchi, a suburb of Kyiv. Some of the tracks are crushed, and the tower is partially crushed.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Berlin Oleksiy Makeev visited the place where the wreckage is at noon.

From Bucharest to London

In Bucharest, several hundred people, mostly Ukrainians and many children, marched to the Russian embassy, ​​shouting “Crimea is Ukrainian!”, “Terrorist Russia!” and “Stop the war!”.

In Sofia, a thousand people gathered on Friday in front of the building of the President of Bulgaria, waving yellow and blue flags.

Demonstrations also took place in Warsaw and Bern, and diplomats from about 30 countries gathered near the UN in Geneva, also as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine.

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower lit up in yellow and blue on Thursday evening, as well as the European Commission and Parliament buildings in Brussels, the National Theater in Warsaw and the Place de la Armée in the center of Luxembourg.

Hundreds of people gathered on Friday evening in the capital of France to pay tribute to the “heroic” resistance of the Ukrainian people.

In Marseille, the second largest city in France, several hundred people gathered in front of the city hall in a sea of ​​Ukrainian flags with placards saying “all with Ukraine”.

The rally took place not far from the anchor, which was donated by the Ukrainian city of Odesa and relocated a year ago to Vieux-Port in honor of the twinning of the two port cities.

Earlier in Toulouse, a twin city with Kyiv, a hundred people gathered near Capitol Square. Other demonstrations took place across France, from Strasbourg in the east to Lille in the north.

In London, the sidewalk in front of the Russian embassy was painted in Ukrainian colors, and hundreds of Britons gathered on Trafalgar Square for this occasion.