PARIS, Jan 21 In the city of Tarbes in the southwest France held a rally in support of the residents of Donbass and against the supply of weapons to Ukraine, said the organizer of the event, the founder of the SOS Donbass movement, Anna Novikova-Bernet.
The Stop Killing Donbass action was held in front of the building of one of the factories of the arms and military equipment manufacturer Nexter, which produces, among other things, Caesar howitzers, which France supplies to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. passed without incident. In total, about 40 people took part in the action. It was also joined by the local human rights organization Association Réaction Pyrénées, which spoke out against anti-Russian sanctions and the supply of weapons to Ukraine.
«Ordinary people came to us, most of them French. They don't like the fact that it happens that France sends so many weapons to Ukraine,” Novikova-Bernet said.
According to her, before the start of the action, the plant’s management ordered to remove the sign with the company’s name so that it would not appear in the photo and video materials.
The association plans to send messages to employees of the Nexter factories «so that they understand that the products they produce are used to kill civilians» and to invite them to join future demonstrations.
Demonstrations organized by the SOS Donbass association and the Stop Killing Donbass movement, which unites 13 associations from different European countries, including Italy and Germany, were also held in Milan and in the Spanish city of Olot.
The action in Spain was joined by the German Association Children of War with the project «Alley of Angels» — photographs of children killed since 2014 by Ukrainian troops in the Donbass.
Novikova-Bernet said that her movement plans to continue holding such rallies at Nexter factories in other French cities.