Scots join the world to stand with Ukraine in demonstrations across the country

The world stopped yesterday to stand with Ukraine and condemn the Kremlin’s invasion.

Demonstrations in Britain and around the world voiced solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

Valeriya Korolchuk, who organised a demonstration in Glasgow’s George Square, said: “I have my friends, cousins, aunties, grandmother. Some of them have had to leave their homes and flee for the West, others have stayed behind to protect their home.

“The situation is really quite dire. The people there are very scared, they don’t know what’s going to happen to their homes, their children.”

Polish girl Tekla Pietrusz, eight, at the protest in George Square, Glasgow yesterday (Pic: Andrew Cawley)

Some demonstrators in London’s Trafalgar Square were visibly emotional as they sang the Ukrainian national anthem and chanted: “Stop Putin, stop the war.”

They carried placards saying “Putin terrorist” and “Protect Ukraine, save Europe”, and many were draped in the blue and yellow national flag of Ukraine.

The rally began with a prayer led by Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, the papal nuncio to Great Britain, who said: “Today we are all Ukrainians.”

Demonstrators in George Square (Pic: Andrew Cawley)

Protesters Volodymyr Shevetovskyy, 31, and his girlfriend Nadiia Soshenko, 27, from Kyiv, said they felt guilty and ashamed of being safe in London while their family and friends are being attacked.

Shevetovskyy, who has lived in the UK for 13 years but whose family were based in Kyiv and Kharkiv, said their lives had “turned 180 degrees” since the invasion began.

They wake up twice at night to check whether their relatives are safe and whether Kyiv is still under Ukraine’s control.

Shevetovskyy, who sells tiles in the UK from his father’s Ukraine-based business, said: “The communication goes: ‘Is it quiet?’ and they say ‘yes’ and you say ‘thank God, I love you’, because you don’t care about business, you just care for people to actually survive.”

George Square, Glasgow (Pic: Andrew Cawley)

Soshenko is worried that her 20-year-old student brother will be forced to fight although she said he “doesn’t even know what a gun looks like”. “I’m so scared to death that something is going to happen to him,” she added.

Tens of thousands gathered in German city Hamburg. The Ukrainian Consul General Iryna Tybinka gave a speech at the beginning of the demonstration, saying: “The fight goes on and we have to win it.”

In Mongolia people held up anti-war placards and carried a huge Ukrainian flag. One demonstrator said: “Mongolians are praying for Ukraine.”