Trade unions are to hold a protest at the Russian embassy at 5pm on Thursday, in opposition to the brutal war in Ukraine and to “show solidarity” with the Ukrainian people.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) and its affiliate unions are to protest outside the embassy on Orwell Road, Rathgar, to mark a month since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has levelled cities and displaced millions of Ukrainian civilians.
Patricia King, general secretary of Ictu, said the protest had been organised to "show solidarity with the people of Ukraine".
Ms King said “defenceless children and civilians” were being killed in the Russian invasion. “This has to stop, women, children and men are dying in this horrific war,” she said.
Kevin Callinan, head of public services trade union Fórsa, will speak at the rally, as will Larysa Gerasko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Ireland, and other members of the Ukrainian community in Ireland.
In a statement, Ictu said the demonstration was “to remember those who have died, to protest at the illegal invasion and to express solidarity with workers in Ukraine and Russia who have suffered as a result of the action of the Russian government”.
Russian embassy
Several protests have been held outside the gates of the Russian embassy since the outbreak of the war.
Earlier this month a large truck was driven through the gates of the embassy in protest, and in other incidents red paint has been thrown over the front gates. Following the incidents security barriers were erected outside the embassy.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy recently called for citizens worldwide to take to the streets “in the name of peace” and hold global protests against Russia’s bloody war.
In a late-night television address from the emptied streets of his nation’s besieged capital Kyiv, a defiant but visibly tired Zelenskiy called on the world to “stop the war”.
Speaking in English, he said: “Come from your offices, your homes, your schools and universities, come in the name of peace, come with Ukrainian symbols to support Ukraine, to support freedom, to support life”.
