Applicant is no stranger
Russians provoke with a motorcade on the Ukraine Day in Cologne
08/20/2023, 5:49 p.m
Thousands of people celebrate a Ukrainian cultural festival in the center of Cologne. This seems to bother some Russians living in Germany. You register a motorcade that is to pass the venue. But fewer people appear than expected, and the route is changed at the last moment.
Far fewer people than expected took part in a pro-Russian motorcade in Cologne. According to the police, the column consisted of about 40 and not the registered 200 vehicles with 1,000 people. The leader of the parade had changed the route at short notice so that the cars decorated with Russian and Soviet flags could not miss a Ukrainian cultural festival at the Chocolate Museum.
The pro-Russian agitator Elena Kolbasnikova is said to have registered for the parade. (archive image)
(Photo: picture alliance / NurPhoto)
The fact that the originally planned route should bypass the Ukraine festival was seen as a provocation. Two counter-demonstrations were then registered: one at the Chocolate Museum and one at Heumarkt. While one did not come into contact with the passing Kremlin supporters because of the route change, the pro-Russian parade drove past the other counter-demo at the Heumarkt – without incident, as a police spokesman reported. Several hundred people gathered at the chocolate museum counter-demo and around 50 at the Heumarkt gathering.
According to a WDR report, the applicant for the motorcade is Elena Kolbasnikova. She is known as a pro-Russian agitator. Again and again she organizes demonstrations and motorcades in Cologne.
The festival is peaceful
Meanwhile, several thousand people celebrated Ukraine Day in front of the Chocolate Museum. The association Blau-Gelbes Kreuz had invited to see art from the Eastern European country and a colorful stage program with dances, singing and instrumental music. Traditional food and workshops were held in tents, and handmade products from Ukraine were also sold. Refugee Ukrainian children performed at a talent competition.
The mood was relaxed in sunny summer weather, the colors blue and yellow were omnipresent. However, the horror of the war remained present: With virtual reality glasses, visitors could take a look at Ukrainian cities and thus get an impression of the extent of the destruction.
A spokesman for the association was satisfied with the high number of visitors and the course of the cultural festival in the cathedral city. “Everything is going peacefully.” The donations collected were to be used to buy ambulances for Ukraine.