'Go Home!' Ukraine Protesters Surround Car at Russian Embassy in Dublin
Several hundred people protested outside the Russian Embassy in Dublin, Ireland, on Friday, February 25, calling for an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Protesters waved Ukraine flags and placards, and chanted “Putin is a liar,” “Go away from Ukraine,” and “Stand by us.”
At one point, protesters thronged a black vehicle as it approached the embassy gates. Some shouted “go home!” at the occupants while others threw Ukrainian flags over the vehicle. As the driver pulled away to escape the crowd, other demonstrators hurled objects and liquids at the vehicle.
The embassy is located on Orwell Road in south Dublin, which police said was closed while the demonstration was ongoing.
A day earlier, during a smaller protest at the embassy, a man was arrested for throwing red paint on the embassy’s front gate, according to local media.
In an interview with Ireland’s public broadcaster RTE on February 16, Russia’s Ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov denied any plans to invade Ukraine.
“We do not have any plans to invade anybody, least of all Ukraine,” Filatov said. “The whole idea is insane. If you knew something about the Russian and Ukrainian people you would never ask such a question,” he said.
After the invasion was launched on Thursday, Ireland’s prime minister Micheal Martin called for the “imposition of comprehensive and severe sanctions on Russia.” On Friday morning, Martin said: “Russia’s reckless, immoral attack is an existential crisis for the rules-based global order in place since the end of the Cold War.”
Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney on Friday said the country was "removing the visa requirement for all Ukrainians who wish to come to Ireland for their safety, and said Ireland would “maintain solidarity with the people of Ukraine and do what we can to support them through this unjustifiable war.” Credit: Dr. Cara Augustenborg via Storyful
Video transcript
- Putin is a liar. Putin is a liar. Putin is a liar. Putin is a liar. - Don't let them in. Don't let them in. [INAUDIBLE] - Go home! Go home! Go home! Go home! Go home! Go home! [INAUDIBLE] - Stand by us. Stand by us. Stand by us. Stand by us. Stand by us. Stand by us. Stand by us. Stand by us. Stand by us. [NON-ENGLISH SINGING]
