BERLIN — On a rainy Friday evening in Germany’s capital, hundreds of people gathered to protest the government’s announcement that it was terminating the lease of the Russian House, a Russian cultural center owned and operated by Moscow.
Demonstrators called on the government to reverse its decision, end its “russophobia” and stop what they called its constant “aggression” toward Russia.
“It’s the only place left for cultural exchange,” a protester told The Moscow Times, declining to give their name.
Down the street, a dozen or so supporters of Russia’s liberal opposition chanted slogans like “Russia without Putin” and held signs up with phrases like “The Kremlin shouldn’t have an address in Berlin.”
A bit further away, roughly 100 pro-Ukraine activists held up boxes that symbolized suitcases and bore slogans like “Suitcase, train station, Moscow,” and spoke about their efforts to close the Russian House dating back to 2022.
