Protests in Argentina, Mexico and Ecuador against Russian invasion of Ukraine

Hundreds of people demonstrated in Buenos Aires, Mexico City and Quito to demand an end to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. With Ukrainian and Argentine flags, hundreds of people, most of them members of the Ukrainian community in Argentina, paraded from the Plaza de Mayo to the Obelisk, in the heart of Buenos Aires, under the slogan "Enough of war."

"We are asking for peace in Ukraine, which is a free, sovereign and independent country that wants to continue to govern itself and decide what to do," Monica Lewkiw, a 54-year-old school principal, daughter of Ukrainians, said. Like her, other Ukrainians or descendants chanted slogans in favour of peace and against Russian President Vladimir Putin, depicted on posters with his face covered in red paint.

"We want Putin to leave Ukraine, to remove his bloody hands from him, he is the Hitler of the 21st century, we want him to leave Ukraine in peace," Lewkiw claimed in the Argentine capital, where some 500,000 Ukrainians and descendants live.

Some called on the Mexican government, which has avoided imposing sanctions on Moscow like other countries, to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Passing drivers honked their car horns in support. "We protest because hospitals are being bombed, schools are being bombed, buildings of people who lived completely in peace, in a paradise, before the Russian occupation, are being bombed," said Mayra Aguilar, a 29-year-old Ecuadorian who lived four years in Ukraine.

"We are asking for peace," she added, as she said her "heart is broken" because the family with whom she stayed during her student years in Ukraine was unable to leave the country. Since the Russian offensive in Ukraine began on February 24, anti-war demonstrations have multiplied around the world. This weekend there were protests in other cities around the world such as London, Paris, Rome, Zurich and New York.