On March 5, the protest march “Kopā par Ukrainu! Kopā pret Putinu!” (eng. “Together for Ukraine! Together against Putin!”) will take place in Riga, starting at 11 a.m. at the Freedom Monument. Everyone is welcome to join the march to condemn Putin's war in Ukraine and to support the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom and democracy.
"Latvia's strength is our people. We have demonstrated our concern for what is happening in Ukraine by donating money, goods, and our time. But it is now more important than ever to stand together and continue to publicly support the people of Ukraine. Let’s remember how important such support was to us during our own struggle for independence. Let’s unite to ensure that our support reaches Ukraine and our condemnation reaches the Kremlin!" says Kristīne Zonberga, one of the organisers of the event and the head of the Civic Alliance - Latvia.
The planned route is from the Freedom Monument to the Ukrainian Embassy, where public figures such as Dainis Ivans, Valdis Zatlers, Dana Isarova, Sergejs Timofejevs, Maksim Yegorovs, and others will speak up. After the demonstration, participants are invited to gather in front of the Russian Embassy to raise their voices against Putin's regime and aggression.
The protest march will be broadcasted live on LTV1 and LSM.LV.
Updates regarding the event will be published on the Civic Alliance - Latvia Facebook page.
Participants of the march are encouraged to bring Ukrainian flags, Latvian flags, or to incorporate the colors of the Ukrainian flag into the clothing. The organizers also encourage people to capture the event in photos or videos and share them on social media with the hashtags #KopāParUkrainu #KopāPretPutinu #StandWithUkraine and #GloryToUkraine.
On March 4, “Ascendum” and the online magazine “Satori” invite authors, readers, and friends to a poster workshop to prepare for Saturday's event. The workshop will be the first project in “Līdzdalības darbnīca” - series of protests and activism organized by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art and the Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum, which will continue in the coming weeks.
The poster workshop will begin at 6 p.m. at the Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum. Organizers will provide poster paper and supplies, but if you have cardboard, please bring it with you!
To support Ukraine in peaceful protests, you can also use posters designed by various designers. Download here.
We also remind you that you can show your support for Ukraine in front of the Russian Embassy in Riga on a daily basis and #StandWithUkraine in many different ways - donations, volunteering, help for war refugees, fight for misinformation, speaking up, etc. Read more on how you can help here and here!
And last but not least, you can support Ukrainian musicians by listening to their music:
