Memorial in Duisdorf Pro-Russian activists disrupt Ukraine memorial gathering
Duisdorf · At a commemoration ceremony organised by the Bonn-Ukraine Solidarity Initiative, two pro-Russian demonstrators disrupted the event by laying their own wreaths. In Cologne, there were two pro-Russian motorcades.
On Sunday, the Soviet memorial at the new cemetery in Duisdorf had been decorated with Ukrainian colours. On the occasion of the commemoration of the end of the Second World War, about 60 people had gathered in a semicircle in front of the pedestal, lit candles and laid flowers. The public wreath-laying ceremony was organised by the Bonn-Ukraine Solidarity Initiative (SoliBU). The initiative had called for people to make a sign for the "victims of wars of aggression" with candles or flowers in blue and yellow colours. Pro-Russian activists were removed by the police. In Cologne, two motorcodes drove the city, as they had done recently in Bonn.
Bonn police said they had been expecting 200 participants. Some officers positioned themselves at the exits to the cemetery with squad cars and motorbikes. A police officer said that they were there to regulate the possible traffic volume. This was not a security measure, such as to prevent a clash with pro-Russian supporters.
Two men lay wreath with Russian colours
However, it became necessary for officers to patrol the footpaths in the cemetery, because while those present at the otherwise peaceful ceremony were giving their speeches, there was an incident: two supposed pro-Russian activists, dressed in black and grey, mingled with the people during the service and laid a flower arrangement with Russian colours at the memorial. As far as the participants were concerned, this was a clear provocation: "The two men simply marched through the rows of people and demonstratively laid the wreath. Afterwards, they disturbed the event by murmuring loudly," one visitor described the incident.
The organisers immediately asked the two middle-aged men to be quiet. "This is our home, we can talk here," one of the men is said to have replied. After a brief exchange of words, three police officers intervened and escorted the unknown men away from the memorial.
The uniformed officers took the men’s particulars. "We were just laying some flowers," one of them told the police. After having their personal details checked, the men left the cemetery. "They wanted to visit the memorial, so I guess there was a war of words," the officer in charge told the GA. He said that the event had otherwise gone off without a hitch. The pro-Russian flower arrangement was not removed during and will remain on the memorial, a SoliBU representative said.
Memorial day for war victims
May 8 marks the end of the Second World War and is celebrated in Ukraine as a day of remembrance for war victims. The Ukrainian and German initiators wanted to draw attention to the fact that numerous Ukrainians, Belarusians and people of many other nations served and were killed fighting in the Soviet army. "More than 20 million civilians - a large number of them Ukrainians - became victims of Stalinist terror and the German war of extermination by 1945," explained organiser Christoph Müller. "And today, tens of thousands of people in Ukraine are falling victim to the Russian war of aggression," he added. He said the aim is to draw attention to the fact that the Russian view of history is by no means as clear-cut as Russians always make it out to be. "The Soviet Union was an empire that had united, subjugated and oppressed countries by force."
On May 9, Russia annually celebrates "victory over fascism". According to Bonn police, Russia sympathisers have announced that they will lay a wreath at the Soviet memorial at 8.30 on Monday morning. The police plan to be on site with several officers in the early hours of Monday. Other pro-Russian activities already took place in Cologne on Sunday.
A motorcade with the theme of "Remembrance of the Victims of War" which was allowed under certain conditions started on Sunday at noon at the Fühlinger See and ended in the Gremberger Wäldchen. The second parade also took place as a procession. This bikers' parade on the theme of "Commemoration Day of the Victims of the Second World War", which was also confirmed under certain conditions, started at the Kalker cemetery in Merheim and ended at the Westfriedhof cemetery at noon. According to the police, the biker parade went off without any incidents.
Original article: Niklas Schröder / Translation: Jean Lennox
