Demonstration in Moscow against the war in Georgia

A protest rally was held on Monday 25 August in Moscow calling for peace in the Caucuses. It was the first protest rally against the new war as previous protests had taken the form of pickets. The rally was attended by about 150 people.

It began with a minute’s silence in memory of those Russians, Georgians and Ossetians killed in the military action.  One of the main slogans of the protest was from the song by Alexander Galich which he wrote after Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces moved in to Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Spring: “Citizens, our country is in danger. Our tanks are on foreign soil!”  Other slogans were: “Peace now!”. “Withdraw the troops now!” and “Stop the propagandist hysteria!”

The organizers announced earlier that the rally, which had been agreed with the relevant body, was part of an indefinite anti-war campaign declared by individuals and civic organizations in Russia immediately after the beginning of the military clashes.

Those taking part included Sergei Kovalev, Ludmila Alexeeva, Lev Ponomarev, as well as the civic and political organizations “Anti-military club”, “The Committee for Anti-Military Action”, “For Human Rights”, “Oborona” [Defence], the United Civic Front, “Free Radicals” and others.

An address issued by the organizers states that “The aim of the protest is to demand that the Russian authorities immediately withdraw their forces from the territory of a neighbouring State, that they strictly observe their commitments according to the six points of the Sarcosi Plan and put a stop now to the frenzy of militaristic and chauvinistic hysteria.”