14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 24 February 2022 — “No to war” and “Fascist Putin” are some of the cries that are chanted on this day in front of Russian embassies around the world to condemn the invasion of Ukraine that began at dawn this Thursday. This is not the case in Havana. The area around the emblematic diplomatic headquarters look deserted, nobody with a loudspeaker or a poster, nobody condemning the war that has begun.
Nor is there a single Cuban offering messages of support in front of the Ukrainian diplomatic headquarters, on Fifth Avenue, about four hundred meters from the Russian one. Located in an area where almost all the houses are embassies or state institutions, a highly guarded place with few neighbors, the house was totally closed this Thursday and nobody was seen around, not even the guards.
The reaction in countries like Poland, the United States, Germany, Spain and France was immediate, hundreds of citizens took to the streets early in the morning asking Vladimir Putin to put an end to the attacks. Some exiled Cubans were present at the protest at the Russian embassies in Madrid and Paris. A hundred Ukrainians gathered there since morning. Something similar happened at the consulate of that country in Barcelona.
The same scene was repeated at the gates of the Russian Embassy in Rome, where the demonstrators had banners denouncing the military action and Vladimir Putin, promoter of the war.
Also in Prague and other Czech cities a series of demonstrations have taken place in front of the Embassy of the Russian Federation to show support for Ukraine and, in addition, another one was announced for this Friday in Wenceslas Square with the slogan: enough war in Ukraine.
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