Trinity students joined a protest of hundreds of people at the Russian Embassy yesterday afternoon, denouncing the country’s invasion of UkraineTrinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU), DU Amnesty and the newly formed Eastern European Society led students to the Embassy on Orwell Rd in Rathmines.
Representatives from the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), Dublin City University Students’ Union and University College Dublin Students’ Union were also in attendance.
The crowd shouted slogans such as “shame, shame, shame” and “no peace, no justice”.
TCDSU president Leah Keogh told The University Times at the protest: “Joined by so many people affected by this current crisis in the Ukraine, we’re standing here today in solidarity with all of those affected by the crisis, specifically Ukrainian students at Trinity.”
Trinity student Dmytro Lutskiv, who is from Kyiv, said that “we have grown up and our people are showing that. We are strong mentally, we have a strong army, and we will stand for our country. We are the truth, we will win. We want peace. Peace in Ukraine. Peace in Europe”.
Gardaí were present to keep the road clear – cars were temporarily prevented from using the road.
One car that had been attempting to enter the embassy was stopped by protesters who draped it in Ukrainian flags. The car then left the scene.
One speaker used a slogan seeking air support for the Ukrainian military: “Shelter the skies and we will handle the rest.”
Dublin, Ireland. Angry crowd harasses a car carrying the Russian ambassador as it tries to enter the Embassy.
Ireland, I am proud of you.❤️??pic.twitter.com/nnuXM9kQL2
— Jimmy (@JimmySecUK) February 25, 2022
As of last night, at least 127 civilians had been killed in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said that he believes Russia is perpetrating war crimes in Ukraine.
“I have no doubt that war crimes are currently being committed in Ukraine as we speak”, he told journalists yesterday.
EU leaders have given their political backing to sanctions hitting Russian energy, transport, financial services and imports overnight, with officials working to formalise the legal text on Friday.
There are expected to be some controversial carve outs to the sanctions, such as excluding the diamond trade and luxury goods.
The big-hitting measures of freezing energy imports and booting Russia from the international financial payments system Swift were also put on ice after major European countries including Germany and Italy are said to have opposed the move.
