Ukrainians in Portugal protest presentation of pro-Russian war book

The Ukrainian community in Lisbon protested at the presentation of the pro-Russian book A Guerra a Leste (“The War in the East”) by journalist and communist Bruno Amaral de Carvalho. Several dozen concerned individuals gathered outside the local Livraria Buchholz bookstore, reported Pavlo Sadokha, UWC Vice-President and President of the Union of Ukrainians in Portugal.

“Local radical communists with Moscow’s parasites residing in Portugal gathered for the presentation, behaving very aggressively, mimicking the execution of Ukrainians when we were singing the Ukrainian anthem. Well, nothing new, these are aggressors who want to destroy the world,” wrote Sadokha.

“Communism – never again! Communism equals fascism!” activists shouted. “It’s great that there are enough of us gathered here, and we were able to prevent this event from happening as the Russians wanted. We, Ukrainians, must react to such things – demonstrate that there are many of us, that we defend ourselves both on the front lines in Ukraine and here, against Russian propaganda,” wrote one of the rally participants, Roman Stelmakh.

In March, the Union of Ukrainians in Portugal called on the National Commission for the Protection of the Rights of Children and Youth to prevent the free sale of the A Guerra a Leste book. Additionally, the community sent a letter to the Livraria Buchholz bookstore requesting the cancellation of the book’s presentation.

Journalist Bruno Amaral de Carvalho is known to the general public for his reports from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine by the Russians, in which he justifies the aggressors’ crimes against Ukrainians and presents false testimonies, as Sadokha previously stated. In the A Guerra a Leste book, the author also justifies Russian aggression against Ukraine and spreads Kremlin propaganda.