In some 120 German cities, processions related to the religious festival took place on Saturday, when citizens came together in several peaceful initiatives to demand an end of Ukraine’s rearmament, local television reported.

Some 3,000 people have attended the peace rallies, which also advocated a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine, where President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a warlike operation on February 24, 2022, to protect the population of the Donbass.

The demonstrations began in a square in the downtown Weddding area in Berlin, said Netzewerk Friedenskooperarive, the organization in charge of coordinating the peaceful actions in Germany.

At the rallies, participants borne posters and signs with slogans such as “United States and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) out of Ukraine,” in allusion to the military bloc’s nearly direct participation in the conflict, as denounced by Russia.

Other signs read “Diplomacy and not war” and “Cheap energy now,” amid the boomerang effect in the country after the adoption of draconian punitive measures against Russia, which included a boycott on the purchase of its hydrocarbons.

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