The group said a pro-Russian march took place on Amsterdam’s Dam Square on May 2. Organizers presented it as a “memorial” event, using Soviet symbols and narratives about “peace.”
In response, Ukrainian activists staged a counterprotest with posters highlighting Russian war crimes and symbolically used the name “Immortal Regiment of the Dead” to emphasize the consequences of Russian aggression.
At the same time, a separate Ukrainian rally in support of prisoners of war was held to draw attention to human rights violations.
The pro-Russian event was organized by Platform voor Vrede en Solidariteit, a group linked to networks sympathetic to the Kremlin and promoting anti-NATO narratives.
Free Defenders said the date of the march was not accidental, as it coincided with the anniversary of the 2014 events in Odesa, when the city avoided the “Russian Spring” scenario.
The group noted that clashes between pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian activists near the Trade Unions House escalated into violence involving gunfire, Molotov cocktails and a fire that killed about 40 people. Russian propaganda later spread a distorted version of the events, shifting blame and downplaying the role of pro-Russian forces in starting the violence.
Members of the movement called on Ukrainians abroad to join the “Immortal Regiment of the Dead” rally scheduled for May 9.
On April 24, reports said Russia had attempted to organize artificial “anti-war” protests in Cyprus during an EU summit in an effort to influence European Union decisions on support for Ukraine and discredit President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, such actions are coordinated through Russian-linked structures abroad.