Ukrainians in Portugal urge authorities to cancel ‘Immortal Regiment’ marches

The Union of Ukrainians in Portugal (UUP) has appealed to the country’s Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, calling for the cancellation of the pro-Russian “Immortal Regiment” march.

“We are reaching out to request your support for the European Parliament’s resolution of February 23, 2025, which addresses disinformation and historical falsifications by Russia, aimed at justifying its aggressive war against Ukraine,” states the appeal, published by UUP President and UWC Vice President Pavlo Sadokha.

The “Immortal Regiment” march promotes an “ideology of hatred and xenophobia, while justifying the crimes of totalitarian regimes, genocide organizations, and aggression against sovereign states.”

UUP is asking for the cancellation of the march, scheduled for May 11 in Lisbon, which is being organized by a pro-Russian group in Portugal with links to the Russian embassy.

“Unfortunately, Russia’s full-scale aggression, launched by [Kremlin ruler Vladimir] Putin in 2022 against Ukraine, has only strengthened the arguments of our annual appeals to local and national authorities in Portugal to ban the ‘Immortal Regiment’ march in public places,” the appeal reads.

The participants and organizers of this pro-Russian event have repeatedly called for actions against the Ukrainian government, denied Ukraine’s independence, and are anti-Ukrainian.

“Every year, they use the slogan ‘we [Russians] already defeated fascism, and we will defeat the next one!’ which refers to their aggression against sovereign Ukraine. At these events, flags of illegal groups like ‘DNR’ and ‘LNR’ have been seen, and in 2018, participants in the Lisbon march attacked Ukrainians,” the appeal continues.

Official Russian sources show that the “Immortal Regiment” event in Lisbon this year “will be entirely propagandistic, aimed at justifying the aggression against Ukraine and the crimes committed by Russia’s leadership and military against Ukrainians.”

The planned march violates the European Parliament resolution, which condemns Russia’s efforts to distort Ukraine’s history and use Victory Day as a propaganda tool to justify aggression, UUP concluded.

The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) has declared 9 May as Russian Shame Day and launched a campaign — more details are available at the link.

The UWC also explained the significance of the “Immortal Regiment” march, a propaganda event where participants carry portraits of Soviet soldiers and glorify the USSR’s role in the Second World War.