More than 100 people gathered in Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon to show support for the people of Ukraine and to call for peace.
Protestors carrying signs or proudly waving Ukrainian and Polish flags crowded around Marischal College taking part in the peace and solidarity protest.
The demonstration was organised by Aberdeen Trades Union Council (AUTC) alongside Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament North East Scotland (CND NE) and Aberdeen Social Centre.
Several speakers addressed the crowd, including Ukrainians with family and friends still in the country and Russians who oppose the war shared what it is like for their family back home.
The personal and emotional voices boomed around Broad Street, drawing more people to the crowd.
The Aberdeen speakers pleaded with those gathered to keep supporting Ukraine in any way possible and to spread the word to get more people involved in the efforts.
They also thanked the north-east community who are already sending food and supplies to the Polish border for the victims.
A minute of silence was held for those who have died during the conflict. The dozens of people fell quiet, with the only sounds being the gulls and the rustling of paper banners in the wind.
North-east politicians also took part in the demonstration, urging people to keep protesting the war and to share their voices.
Others used music and poetry to move the crowd, with one group performing a rendition of Bob Dylan’s Blowing in the Wind.
CND NE activist and co-organiser Doug Haywood explained people were there to stand in solidarity with the victims of war.
He said: “War is not how we should be solving problems in the 21st century, it’s just wrong.”
Aberdeen community ‘incredibly supportive’
One of the speakers, Mariya Pavlova, was born in Ukraine and moved to Scotland as a child. She thanked the Aberdeen community for being “incredibly supportive”, particularly the Polish and Lithuanian communities.
She said: “Over the last couple of days my sister and my friends have shared harrowing stories with me, they’re in Ukraine right now. They’re scared, my sister told me she is too scared to take a shower in case the sirens go off and she has to evacuate to go to a bomb shelter.
“Children are too scared to get undressed and get in their pajamas because they are scared they will need to evacuate.”
Miss Pavlova described it as “pure terror” and explained that sanctions are not stopping Putin. She also used her time to plead for the UK to open up to refugees and for people to keep sharing the news and donating.
Aliva Kvaratskhelia, a Russian speaker was next to speak, and she said she was “heartbroken” by the situation.
Addressing the crowd she explained: “They don’t have free media anymore, they don’t know what is going on, they only know what their government is telling them.
“Those people who are going outside, even without any posters, sometimes they are just going outside for a walk – they get imprisoned.
“If you show your opinion you could get up to 15 years in prison.
“All free media and the people who are against the war are fleeing Russia right now, the borders are closing.”
MP urges ‘write to your MP’ to support refugees
MSP Maggie Chapman exclaimed that we should not only stand in solidarity with Ukraine, but also with all those in Russia, Belarus and elsewhere who do not stand with Putin and his aggression.
She said: “The last 11 days have been just awful, just terrifying for us, and yet we are so far away. The feeling of helplessness I’m sure will be common to many of us.
“We need to be putting pressure on the UK government to open our borders, our borders should not be the barrier to people fleeing war.”
MP Kirsty Blackman agreed that the government should open the borders to refugees and claimed that more people have written to her about this than anything else before other than Brexit.
“If you haven’t written to your MP, write to your MP,” she advised the crowd. “Write to your MP and ask for changes to the visa system.
“It is not enough for the home secretary to say ‘oh, we’ve speeded the system up, we’re going to do the checks a bit more quickly’.
“People are literally fleeing for their lives, we do not have time to check their biometric data, or whatever it is the Home Office is doing, we should be opening our borders and letting people in and letting people come to safety.”
She added: “Please write to your MP on that, please keep coming to events like this, keep supporting CND, keep supporting organisations that will fight for refugees and against war.”
