On Saturday, the Ukrainian community of France once again brought people to the streets of Paris in support of Ukraine. Demonstrators demanded to recognize Russia as a terrorist state and rescue the captured defenders of Azovstal, the vice president of the Union of Ukrainians in France, Volodymyr Kogutyak, reported on Facebook.
Rallies in support of Ukraine in the French capital regularly take place twice a week, usually on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Ukrainian community also has to counter the Kremlin’s disinformation and propaganda. Thus, the propagandist concert “Voices from Russia and Ukraine” scheduled for Aug. 21, in which “Franco-Ukrainian soprano” Anna Hattermann was supposed to perform on the same stage with the Khutoretskaya Consort from St. Petersburg, Russia, has been wrecked as Ms. Hattermann refused to participate in this project.
The next march of the Ukrainian community in Paris will take place on August 17 and will go from the Rambuteau metro station to the Fontaine des Innocents.
The Union of Ukrainians in France was founded in 1949 by Ukrainians liberated from Nazi extermination camps and forced labor camps in Germany and Austria. The UUF founders also include Ukrainians who fought in the Polish army of Gen. Anders in the Battle of Monte Cassino, Ukrainians who resided in France before WWII and served in the French Foreign Legion, and members of Ukrainian detachments of the French Resistance.
Photos and video: Volodymyr Kogutyak
