Thousands in Moscow protest Ukraine conflict
MOSCOW — Tens of thousands of people marched through central Moscow on Sunday to demonstrate against the fighting in Ukraine and Russia’s alleged complicity in the conflict.
An Associated Press reporter estimated the crowd at about 20,000, although the city police department put the number at about 5,000.
The demonstrators chanted “No to war” and “The junta is in the Kremlin, not Kyiv.” The latter refers to Russia’s contention that the ousting of Ukraine’s former Russia-friendly president was a coup.
The fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine that erupted after the ouster has killed more than 3,000 people. Ukraine and Western countries claim Russia is supplying troops and equipment to the rebels, which Moscow denies.
“Our country is acting as an aggressor, like Germany in the war,” said demonstrator Konstantin Alexeyev, 35.
The Ukraine conflict has boosted nationalist sentiment among Russians, many of who regard eastern Ukraine as rightfully a part of Russia, and coverage of the crisis on state-controlled television channels has skewed strongly against the Ukrainian authorities.
At least one scuffle broke out between protesters and nationalists who unfurled a banner denouncing “The March of Traitors.”
In Kyiv, a Ukrainian security official said attacks by Russia-backed rebel fighters are continuing despite a cease-fire called for by both sides more than two weeks ago.
Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s national security council, on Sunday said two Ukrainian servicemen and about 40 rebels had died in clashes over the past day. He said the fighters fired on Ukrainian positions at 22 locations and that they fired artillery at the airport in Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city.