People take to streets in occupied areas of Ukraine

Protests and resistance in the city of Kherson in Ukraine (Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group)

Thousands of people in Ukraine are taking to the streets to demand an end to the bloodshed on their doorsteps. Protests have erupted in occupied areas, where resistance has greeted the tanks and guns of Russian forces.

In Kherson in southern Ukraine some 2,000 people faced up to Russian troops and demonstrated in Liberty Square in the city centre last weekend. They defied threats from the Russian military, who fired into the air in an attempt to disperse the crowd. Residents waved flags and chanted, “Kherson is Ukraine,” and, “Russians go home”.

Igor Kolykhaev, mayor of Kherson, said that more than 300 people died when the Russian military invaded the city, many of who are now buried in mass graves. In Berdyansk in the east of Ukraine, crowds of residents shouted “go home” and sang the national anthem as they surrounded Russian military vehicles. And in the city of Melitopol hundreds of people marched through the streets to defy the Russian invasion.

As shots rang out in the background, protesters chanted, “Freedom to Ukraine” and “Go home while you’re still alive”. Protesters marched towards Russian troops and threw themselves on the ground to block the path of military vehicles.

Thousands of people in the city of Enerhodar built a blockade in an attempt to stop Russian forces from seizing control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. They built a blockade of lorries, tyres and sandbags to try to stop tanks from entering the city. The hope of mass resistance separate from Nato’s manoeuvres is an inspiration.