RUSSIA: Moscow residents rally in support of victims in the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine

Record ID: 214775

  • Title: RUSSIA: Moscow residents rally in support of victims in the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine
  • Date: 27th September 2014
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 27, 2014) (REUTERS) PEOPLE WALKING TOWARDS RALLY LEADER OF UNITED RUSSIA PARLIAMENTARY FACTION, VLADIMIR VASILYEV, WALKING ST. GEORGE RIBBON (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) LEADER OF UNITED RUSSIA PARLIAMENTARY FACTION, VLADIMIR VASILYEV, SAYING: "Right now the situation is such: they found the terrible graves in the zone of the ceasefire. And the react
  • Embargoed: 12th October 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAEJTK0BNP232P5U8XUARHAH5P9
  • Story Text: Thousands of people gathered at the monument to victims of fascism in a Moscow park on Saturday (September 27) to show support for people in the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine.
    The "Donetsk: Innocent Victims" rally, which Russian news agencies estimated more than 15,000 attended, was organised by the group Russian Mothers and drew pro-government activists and members of the Russian Duma's political parties.
    The leader of the ruling party United Russia's parliament faction Vladimir Vasilyev said the rally was important to stopping bloodshed in Ukraine.

    "Right now the situation is such: they found the terrible graves in the zone of the ceasefire. And the reaction is really sluggish. If society doesn't stop these terrible men, that means it can stop by armed means. But now, we managed to reach a ceasefire. That's why we need to show that the majority of the people condemn this action. It's not permissible in civilised society," Vasilyev said.
    Activists said they were compelled to come to the rally and called for an international investigation into deaths in the months-long conflict in which more than 3,000 have been killed.

    "I think that it's the duty of every person who belongs to the Russian world, of every patriot, to come here and express his outrage and his solidarity with the people of Novorossiya, who are suffering from the current actions of the Kiev junta that simply aren't contained in any any possible moral framework, international rights," Natalia Makeeva said, voicing the catch-phrase that the separatists use to describe Ukraine's pro-Western leadership which took power when the Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich fled in the face of mass street protests in February.

    "We call on the international community, all rights organisations, to carry out the very most thorough investigation into the tragedy in Ukraine. We demand that those responsible for these crimes are found. And demand just punishment. They have to listen to us. Evil has to be punished," said Marianna Shetsova, a member of Russian Mothers.
    The rally came as an uneasy ceasefire is largely holding in the east of Ukraine, though there have been sporadic incursions.
    On Friday (September 26), talks began to mark out a 30-km (19-mile) buffer zone between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in the country's east, but Moscow was coy about its role and denied that Russian military officials had taken part.
    A statement by the military in Kiev said a Ukrainian team met a 76-member group of Russian officers north of the major Ukrainian city of Donetsk to work on establishing the zone, designed to put government and separatist forces out of striking range of each other.
    Moscow denies any direct military involvement in the conflict or arming the separatists despite what Kiev and the West say is conclusive evidence.
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