Russian opposition leaders and thousands of supporters rally in Berlin against Putin

On Sunday, thousands gathered in the heart of Berlin for an antiwar rally.

It was organized by some of the most-prominent leaders of the Russian opposition in exile, including Ilya Yashin, Vladimir Kara-Murza and Yulia Navalnaya.

This was among the most-significant opposition rallies outside of Russia since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Participants chanted, “Russia without Putin” — encapsulating one of their main messages: to end Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reign. 

Navalnaya is the widow of Alexei Navalny who was seen as the most-prominent Russian opposition politician before dying in a Russian prison. When she arrived, dozens of people crowded around her. Some asked to take a photo with her, but most people just thanked her. 

She said at the rally, “We need to come and fight against this war that Putin started with Ukraine. We need to remind others and remember about the political prisoners. We need to come out for those people in Russia who can’t come out to the streets … we need to come out for those who are in prison, and for those who have been killed.”

Diana attended the rally draped in a Ukrainian flag.

“I’m from Ukraine and I would like to support Yulia Navalnaya with [an] agenda that Russia should take their army from Ukraine and stop the war.”

She didn’t give her last name because she has family living under Russian occupation in Ukraine, and she fears for their safety.

“My mother still lives in Crimea, and my father lives in Dnieper in Ukraine, so I feel very sad about this situation, because part of my family supports Putin, part of my family supports Ukraine, but I’m here in Germany and try to do whatever I can. So, it’s kind of, this war split my family apart.”

Diana said that she supports any politician who’s serious about trying to end the war in Ukraine.

Angelina Shtevakh said that she came to the rally just to be in the same space with people who share her views: “It’s amazing to be around people that are not crazy, that think like me. It’s amazing to actually see these people. Hearing Russian, hearing my opinions, it’s amazing.”

Shtevakh has been living in Germany for the last 10 years, but she’s from Russia, and she still has family there.

Vladimir Kara-Murza is an opposition leader who’s been poisoned twice by Russian agents, and who’s also spent more than two years in a Russian prison. He was freed along with Yashin and others in August, in a historic East-West prisoner swap with Russia. 

“We want to see Ukraine regain its territory; we want to see all Russian political prisoners liberated, and we want to see our beloved homeland Russia become a normal, democratic, European country, and I have no doubt that day will come,” said Kara-Murza, who spoke with reporters while marching through the streets of Berlin.

He went on to say, “I received a 25-year prison sentence because I publicly spoke out against the war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine — and the fast-growing category on the Russian political prisoner list are those people, those Russian citizens who have publicly spoken out against Putin’s war of aggression of Ukraine. And I’m proud of so many of my fellow Russian citizens who have been speaking out against this criminal war, even at the cost of very often, their own freedom.”

Inna Mosina, another attendee, just fled Russia three months ago — she’s in Germany on a humanitarian visa.

Mosina said, “This rally is the best thing that I’ve experienced in the three months since I’ve been [in Germany].”

She said that she left Russia for fear of being further persecuted by the government. About a year ago, after posting an image of a rainbow flag on social media, a Russian court charged Mosina with supporting an “extremist” organization. Despite the draconian political environment in Russia, Mosina said that she feels that Putin won’t be in power for long.

“I feel hope,” she stressed — that’s the message she gets when she hears the opposition leaders like Kara-Murza.

Zalina Marshenkulova, a prominent feminist activist, left Russia just weeks after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She said that she didn’t attend the rally to send a message to Putin — nor to support the opposition leaders in exile.

“I am the opposition, you know. Everyone here is the opposition. That’s for us, it’s not for Putin, or against Putin. It’s kind of therapy.”

Mikhail Fishman, a host with TV Rain, an independent online Russian news channel, traveled from Amsterdam to attend the rally. He said that despite the positive atmosphere at the rally, most Russians who oppose Putin see few signs that things will change.

Fishman said a prominent feeling is of desperation — “That there is nothing to go for, that it’s not worth it. And that’s, I think, the moment we go through. Well, it’s hard, but we have to admit it.”

For Fishman, this rally is about the message it sends to people inside Russia — like-minded people who used to attend opposition rallies before it became a crime.

“They need some kind of this message that they are not alone — in their kitchens, in their homes where they can still discuss, but they cannot do it publicly or outside. They have to keep silent, but they feel what we feel, that ‘hey guys, you are not alone there, there are a lot of people like you, who think like you.’”