Demonstration in front of the Old Town Hall 120 people demonstrate in Bonn against war in Ukraine
Bonn · At a rally organized at short notice in front of the Old Town Hall, around 120 people demonstrated against the war in Ukraine. Among the speakers was a professor from the University of Bonn.
Around 120 people demonstrated on Monday evening in front of the Old Town Hall in Bonn to protest the war in Ukraine. At noon on Monday, the initiative "Solidarity Bonn - Ukraine" had spontaneously announced a demonstration for peace and solidarity with the people in Ukraine. A few hours earlier, Russia had fired missiles at Ukraine, hitting various cities across the country.
After registering the rally, Pavlo Hrosul, chairman of the board of the Solidarity Initiative, spent several hours spreading the word about the event on social networks in order to mobilize as many people as possible in the shortest period of time. In the afternoon, he expected around 50 participants, but more than twice that number showed up in the evening. The demonstrators were waving Ukrainian flags or wore them hanging around their necks. On posters were demands such as "Stop Putin" and "Stop War" or sentences such as "Russia is a terrorist state”.
Minute of silence for victims
Hrosul opened the rally in Ukrainian before the Ukrainian national anthem was sung together by those in attendance. After a minute of silence for the victims of the Russian invasion, the speeches began. Various speakers took to the microphone, including Ukrainian activists as well as professors from the University of Bonn. "I want to show solidarity with Ukraine, that's why I'm here today," said Martin Aust, a professor in the Department of Eastern European History at Bonn University. He called Russia's attacks on Ukraine terrible and abhorrent. "Some prominent people think negotiations with Russia could end the war. But there is absolutely nothing to negotiate with Putin about. You cannot negotiate with a person who denies people the right to life!" said Aust. Some speakers called for more extensive arms deliveries from Germany to Ukraine.
Among the participants of the demonstration were also many Ukrainian refugees. For Tetjana Kolomiiets, it was especially important to be at the event: Her daughter and granddaughter live in Kiev. They spent the day of the bombings in an underground garage converted into a bunker. "We have regular contact," reports Jörg Kampers, who took Kolomiiets in after she fled.
Demo and cultural festival on Saturday
On Saturday, October 15 at 2 p.m., the initiative "Solidarity Bonn - Ukraine" will organize a demonstration on the occasion of the Day of Ukrainian Defense followed by a cultural festival on Münsterplatz. The initiative is currently in a state of transition: after organizing, among other things, encounter cafés, language courses and leisure activities for the integration of Ukrainian refugees over the past eight months, the initiators are now aiming to found an association that will take on new tasks tailored to Ukraine, Ukrainians and Bonners. The new association is to be called "Blue-Yellow Heart," according to Hrosul.
(Orig. text: Sebastian Flick; Translation: ck)
