Putin critics lead march in Berlin calling for end to war in Ukraine

Prominent Russian opposition figures have led a march of at least 1,000 people in central Berlin, criticising Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine and calling for democracy in Russia.

Behind a banner that read “No Putin, No War”, the protesters were led by Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of top Putin critic Alexei Navalny, as well as Ilya Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who were freed from Russian detention in a high-profile prisoner exchange this summer.

Shouting “Russia without Putin” and other chants in Russian, the demonstrators held up signs with a wide array of messages on a red background, including “Putin = War” and “Putin is a murderer” in German.

Some marched with the flags of Russia or Ukraine, as well as a white-blue-white flag used by some Russian opposition groups.

“The march demands the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, the trial of Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, and the release of all political prisoners in Russia,” the protesters said in a statement.

Mr Yashin, in a statement before the protest, said demonstrators were “using the freedom we have here in Berlin to show the world: A peaceful, free and civilised Russia exists”.

Ms Navalnaya, Mr Yashin and Mr Kara-Murza have all billed Sunday’s rally as a show of unity at a time when recent rounds of acrimony have hit the anti-war camp.

The landmark East-West prisoner swap in August freed key dissidents and promised to reinvigorate a movement set adrift by the death in prison of Mr Navalny, a charismatic anti-corruption campaigner and arch-Kremlin foe.

Instead, tensions have spiked in recent months, as Mr Navalny’s allies and other prominent dissidents swapped accusations that appeared to dash any hopes of a united anti-Kremlin front.

Many opposition-minded Russians have voiced deep frustration with the infighting, and with what some view as efforts by rival groups to discredit and take influence from one another.