MORE than 200 people gathered in Reading’s town centre this evening to show solidarity with Ukraine.
Speakers included Reading East MP Matt Rodda, and mayor Cllr Rachel Eden.
Many attending lit candles, or held placards and banners calling for peace, after the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops acting on the orders of president Putin.
Attendees gathered from 6pm on Friday, March 4, outside Reading town hall, many carrying banners, placards, and candles.
Reading Peace Group organised the vigil, and member Pete Burt said the it was the largest such gathering in nearly 20 years.
“It’s the biggest protest in Reading since 2003 for the Iraq war,” he explained.
“Tonight, there were two mayors, a bishop, an MP, and more than 200 people, and I thank them all.”
Attendees heard a number of speakers, including Mayor Rachel Eden also spoke at the vigil.
“Our voices will not be drowned, we stand with our Ukrainian friends and family, and we feel their anger and their pride,” she said.
“Here, we can feel powerless, helpless even, but we have power.
“The Ukrainian community has always been part of our past, part of our present, and they will be part of our future.
“To our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, this is your town, and those here tonight to show support are your neighbours, your friends, and your family.”
Mr Rodda said: “This is a clear message that we wholly support Ukraine”.
He said the Ukrainian community has contributed to the town’s way of life for more 50 years.
“I fully support the connections between Reading and Ukraine, and hope that the community knows that it has two homes: one in Ukraine and one here,” he continued
Mr Rodda also encouraged attendees to contact their local MPs.
“There’s growing consensus for increasing pressure on our government to do more,” he said. “We need unity, and we need to work together.
“Justice will prevail.”
Kate Nikulina also spoke, and said that she was ethnically Russian, but had come from Estonia. Like many Russians, she does not support Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.
“I have friends in Ukraine, and friends in Russia. Many of my friends in Russia asked me to support the vigil because they couldn’t risk their lives,” she said.
“Russians are scared too, for it is they who will have to overthrow Putin, but they asked to come here today with the message: peace to Ukraine, freedom to Russia.”
A spokesman for the Reading Ukrainian Community Centre said he was proud his country’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying, “He is our Churchill.”
He also expressed his thanks to those from Poland and Bulgaria who had offered support, to Cllr Eden, as well as the council.
“And especially I thank the people of Reading, for your incredible donations, your help, and your kindness.”
Mick Pollek, also a member of the RUCC, said: “I’m a Reading boy. I was born in Newtown, on Leopold Road.
“One day, Ukraine will be free again.
“We will prevail, and then I invite you all for a drink in our capital, Kyiv.”
Not all those who gathered were in full support.
One woman from the crowd interrupted to shout “But what are you going to do?”
Tomorrow (Saturday), the Reading Ukrainian Centre in Sidmouth Street will be collecting donations, while a stall will be in Broad Street, organised by the town’s churches.
