WARSAW (TASS/Reuters) – Hundreds of people took part in an anti-war protest in Warsaw, slamming Poland’s involvement in Ukraine’s war and the government’s support for Ukraine in its battle with Russia.
Participants of the ‘This is not our war’ march, who protest against the involvement of Poland and the Poles in the Ukraine conflict, took to the streets in Warsaw on Saturday.
As the organizers of the protest pointed out in the leaflets calling to join the rally, Polish politicians and media “are relentlessly pounding the Poles’ heads and hearts with war propaganda.”
“The patriotic movement of fellow countrymen, bearing in mind our tragic history of 1939-1945 strongly protests against bellicose rhetoric. There must be peace in Poland, and those who are prodding us into taking part in somebody else’s war should be held accountable,” they said.
The protesters came to downtown Warsaw waving the flags of Poland and carrying banners proclaiming “This is not our war,’ ‘Stop the Americanization of Poland’, ‘We want to live in peace.’
In recent months, European citizens’ calls have been growing louder on the U.S. and European countries to stop supporting Ukraine with military supplies. Moscow says the raft of military supplies to Kiev stretches the war even longer.
Late last year, there were protests in Italy and France as people rocked the streets of the capitals to protest against the countries’ membership in the U.S.-led NATO military alliance.
A close ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that deliveries of offensive weapons to Kyiv that threaten Russia’s territories will lead to a global catastrophe and make arguments against using weapons of mass destruction untenable.
Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Duma - Russia’s lower house of parliament - warned that the United States and NATO’s support of Ukraine is leading the world to a “terrible war”.
“If Washington and NATO countries supply weapons that will be used to strike civilian cities and attempt to seize our territories, as they threaten, this will lead to retaliatory measures using more powerful weapons,” Volodin said on the Telegram messaging app.
“Arguments that the nuclear powers have not previously used weapons of mass destruction in local conflicts are untenable. Because these states did not face a situation where there was a threat to the security of their citizens and the territorial integrity of the country.”