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The widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has urged thousands of supporters marching through central Berlin to continue their protests against President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.
โOne protest alone wonโt change anything. We need to keep coming outโ, Yulia Navalnaya said.
People carried the blue and white Russian opposition flag as well as Ukrainian flags, while chanting โno to warโ and โPutin is a killerโ in Russian.
Many members of Russiaโs opposition have been exiled since the Kremlin escalated its crackdown on dissent, jailing hundreds โ perhaps thousands โ of people for their political views.
The opposition says it has three main demands โ the โimmediate withdrawalโ of troops from Ukraine, the trial of Putin as a โwar criminalโ and the liberation of all political prisoners in Russia.
The Russian war on Ukraine was a major focus of the protest.
Ukrainians often accuse the Russian opposition of failing to appreciate their suffering, and failing to do enough to stop the war being waged by their country.
Just last week, Ukrainian protesters interrupted a speech by Yulia Navalnaya in Lisbon, playing the sound of air raid sirens and demanding that she condemn the war, which she did.
This march seemed in part an attempt to address that impression, although one protester said he didnรขโฌt agree with the prominent slogan โPutin = warโ, because the invasion of Ukraine is being fought and supported by many Russians.
Oleg Orlov, co-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organisation Memorial, who was sentenced to jail in Russia for his anti-war and anti-government statements, held a banner that read: โVictory for Ukraine, Defeat for Putin, Freedom for Russia.โ
Orlov now lives in Germany in enforced exile after he was released in a prisoner swap in August. He called for Ukraineโs allies to continue supplying weapons.
โVictory for Putin in Ukraine will conserve his fascist regime in Russia for many years,โ he told the BBC.
โMore weapons for Ukraine is important, including for the future of Russia โ because if Putin wins, then Russia is defeated โ that is, the Russia that all of us here dream of and that we want to build.
โThose in Europe who talk about peace at all cost in Ukraine, those prepared to appease the aggressor, do not understand the mine they are laying for the future of Europe itself.โ
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The march ended outside the grand building of the Russian embassy on Unter Den Linden, where the three protest leaders clambered onto the back of a truck, linked arms and thanked the crowd for their support. They were greeted by cheers.
Navalnaya said her husband had always thought you should go to protests in the same way you go to work.
She urged people to march repeatedly, not only for themselves โ but for Russians inside the country who canรขโฌt do the same, รขโฌลfor the political prisonersรขโฌยฆ and for those who have been killed.รขโฌ
Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was freed from jail in August after spending over two years โ 11 months of them in solitary confinement รขโฌโ told the BBC he was รขโฌลproudรขโฌ to see a รขโฌลsea of facesรขโฌ at the rally รขโฌโ although the march was smaller than some people had anticipated.
รขโฌลThere are millions in Russia who feel the same way, who are against the war, Putinรขโฌs regime. But in Russia itรขโฌs impossible to do what we just did here today. For the smallest act of protest you will end up in prison, as I did.รขโฌ
In his speech, he called the embassy โa spy nest of Russiaโ.
โIt will be an embassy again,โ he vowed.
One young IT worker, Anastasia โ originally from Kazan in Russia โ said she left in March 2022 because she could not stay in a country waging a war that she opposed.
She said it was รขโฌลimpossible to protest in an authoritarian stateรขโฌ, adding that this is why the rally was so crucial.
The crowd was not huge, but it was diverse, including supporters of Alexei Navalny alongside anarchists and young men recruiting people to go and fight for Ukraine. We met protesters from as far away as Norway, Cyprus and Poland.
As Yulia Navalnaya was whisked away by police, for security, the crowd gathered beside a memorial for those killed in Ukraine โ chatting quietly and singing along with a young man playing guitar.
One couple told the BBC that for them, this rally had given them a little hope โ and sense that they werenรขโฌt alone.
รขโฌลThe mood now among Russians abroad is bad. People donรขโฌt believe in change. Everything looks bad. They see no point in protesting,รขโฌ Polina said.
รขโฌลMaybe theyรขโฌre right. But itรขโฌs no shame to do a little. itรขโฌs a shame to do nothing. Thatรขโฌs what Alexei Navalny once said.รขโฌ