Yulia Navalnaya and Russian opposition take to streets of Berlin

Russia’s exiled opposition has marched through central Berlin in protest against President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.

Several thousand supporters joined the march led by Yulia Navalnaya, widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in February in a Russian jail. Navalny’s supporters say Putin was behind his death but the Kremlin denies this.

People carried the blue and white Russian opposition flag as well as Ukrainian flags, while chanting “no to war” and “Putin is a killer” in Russian.

Members of Russia’s opposition have been exiled since the Kremlin escalated its crackdown on dissent, jailing hundreds – perhaps thousands – of people for their political views.

The opposition says it has three main demands – the “immediate withdrawal” of troops from Ukraine, the trial of Putin as a “war criminal” and the liberation of all political prisoners in Russia.

Ukraine was a major focus of the protest, which finished at the Russian embassy in Berlin.

The Russian opposition has often been accused of failing to appreciate Ukrainian suffering, and failing to do enough to stop the war being waged by their country.

Oleg Orlov, co-chair of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organisation Memorial, who was sentenced to jail in Russia for his anti-war and anti-government statements, held a banner that read: “Victory for Ukraine, Defeat for Putin, Freedom for Russia.”

Orlov now lives in Germany in enforced exile after he was released in a prisoner swap in August. He called for Ukraine’s allies to continue supplying weapons.

“Victory for Putin in Ukraine will conserve his fascist regime in Russia for many years,” he told the BBC.

“More weapons for Ukraine is important, including for the future of Russia – because if Putin wins, then Russia is defeated – that is, the Russia that all of us here dream of and that we want to build.

“Those in Europe who talk about peace at all cost in Ukraine, those prepared to appease the aggressor, do not understand the mine they are laying for the future of Europe itself.”

Speaking outside the Russian embassy, Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was also freed in August after spending over two years – 11 months of them in solitary confinement – jailed in Russia, called the embassy “a spy nest of Russia”.

“It will be an embassy again,” he added.

One young IT worker, Anastasia – originally from Kazan in Russia – said she left in March 2022 because she could not stay in a country waging a war that she opposed.

She said it was “impossible to protest in an authoritarian state”, adding that this is why the rally was so crucial.