Pro-Kremlin activists protested in Moscow on Saturday in front of the embassies of 20 countries that Russia considers “unfriendly”, on the occasion of the ninth anniversary of the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, reports AFP.

Countries such as the USA, Great Britain and France “support Ukraine (…) and actively supply the Ukrainian regime with lethal weapons,” the youth movement “Young Guard” said in a statement.

“With the help of this lethal weapon, the plan of Zelenskyi and Biden is to return Crimea” to the Russians, the president of the movement, Anton Demidov, assured AFP during a demonstration in front of the US embassy.

The rally in front of the American embassy gathered about 400 activists who displayed posters with the inscriptions “United States, you sow death”, “Crimea with Russia forever”, the correspondent of AFP notes.

According to an AFP journalist, about 200 protesters gathered near the British embassy.

According to “Young Guard”, the total number of pro-Kremlin activists who protested was 5,000.

Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea on March 18, 2014, following a referendum that was not recognized by Kyiv and the international community.

This annexation brought Russia numerous international sanctions, which intensified after the start of the Russian offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Crimea on Saturday. On Sunday, Putin was in Mariupol, the bombed-out city that the Russians have occupied since May 2022, the Kremlin said.

Follow the latest developments from The 389th day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.