BELGRADE -- Hundreds of people gathered in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, on December 24 to demand the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.
Marchers held banners calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep his “hands off Ukraine," along with slogans such as "Freedom to Ukraine," "Stop War Madness," and "304 days of death and fear."
Marchers were blocked from approaching the Russian Embassy in the Western Balkan nation, which traditionally has close ties to Russia.
Moscow's closest ally in the Balkans even as it pursues EU membership, Belgrade has condemned Russia's unprovoked invasion but staunchly resisted joining unprecedented Western sanctions on Russia that would curb trade, energy shipments, direct flights, and other links.
It is one of the few nations where rallies have also been held following the invasion in support of Russia and Putin by right-wing parties, Orthodox Christian church organizations, and other groups.
Hundreds of thousands of young Russian men have left their home country over fears of being conscripted into the military since the invasion of Ukraine, many of them to Serbia.
The December 24 protest was organized by the Russian Democratic Society, a Belgrade-based organization that opposes the Putin government and the invasion of Ukraine.
"Today it's been 10 months since the Russian dictator ordered his army to launch a total invasion of the neighboring country,” the group said in a statement.
“As a result of this insane order, hundreds of thousands of human lives were destroyed and maimed during ten months of war."
It said that millions of people in Ukraine have been forced to leave their homes, and that dozens of cities and towns there have been "completely or partially wiped off the face of the earth."