Russians protest against Putin and Ukraine war in Poland

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Russians living in Poland have held protests in Warsaw and Kraków demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, the release of political prisoners in Russia, and for Vladimir Putin to be put on trial.

A group marched through the Polish capital behind a sign saying, in Polish, “Russians against Putin and War”. They waved the white-blue-white flag of the Russian anti-war movement, as well as those of Poland and the European Union.

Other placards, in a mix of Polish, English and Russian, read “Putin to the Hague”, “Freedom for political prisoners in Russia”, and “No War”.

In Kraków, Poland’s second-largest city, the protesters marched through the Old Town displaying pictures of political prisoners currently being held in Russia.

The protests were timed to coincide with others being held elsewhere to mark 1,000 days of Russia’s war in Ukraine, including a major rally in Berlin attended by prominent Russian opposition figures including Vladimir Kara-Murza, Ilya Yashin and Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of Alexei Navalny, who died in a Russian prison this year.

“We have different political beliefs, but we are united by our opposition to war and tyrannical governments that violate human rights and the principles of democracy,” wrote the organisers of the Warsaw event.

Among their demands are “the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, including Donbas and Crimea”, and that “the state authorities of Russia be punished” for war crimes and for violating human rights in both Ukraine and Russia.

The organisers also told news website Onet before the protest that they “want to show that we are allies of Polish civil society in spreading democratic values ​​and building a safe future together”.

Poland’s most recent national census, carried out in 2021, found just under 16,000 Russians to be living in the country. Since the invasion of Ukraine, entry to Poland and the EU more broadly has been even more tightly restricted for Russians.

However, last year, Poland still issued almost 4,300 visas to Russian citizens. The current government, which took power in December 2023, has criticised its predecessor for being too lax regarding the entry of Russians.

By October this year, only 1,821 visas had been issued to Russians. The majority of them were classified as being for humanitarian reasons (452), repatriation (175), or for people who hold the so-called Pole’s Card (875), which can be claimed by non-Polish citizens who have Polish heritage and meet certain conditions.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russians in Poland have held a number of protests against the war.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Adam Stepien / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.