«Putin wants to take back Ukraine as in 1918. He is angry with us because we expelled years ago, with the revolution, the puppet dictator placed there by the Russians. My friends are fighting, even women and the elderly have taken up arms ». Mila Polans’ka, 49, comes from a town near Kiev and yesterday afternoon she was demonstrating in the town hall square in Cuneo with the sign “Ukrainians die for democracy in Europe”. 150 people took part in the mobilization promoted by CGIL, CISL and UIL, to reiterate that “a decisive intervention by world institutions” is needed to silence the bombs. Already last week in Cuneo, in front of the cathedral, the «clandestine minerals» network was mobilized to «say no to the excessive power of weapons and fear». But few imagined the war of conquest started 48 hours ago.
Mila, a professional writer, speaks excellent Italian: «Why this sign? To stir consciences. My daughter is 27 and she is fleeing from Kiev to the Polish border trying to get here. I feel her, she is fine, but the situation is terrible. Surprised by the invasion? No, the Americans had said “the Russians will attack in 48 hours” but the Ukrainian government did not want to believe it. Against an unleashed enemy we had to be ready. Putin hates a free people like ours. Here in Cuneo there are many Ukrainians, we know each other. Many did not want to come to the streets saying “I’m away from politics”. I explained to them that they are wrong ».
A young woman who has lived in the province for 5 years, first in Busca, now in a hamlet of Cuneo, also demonstrated wrapped in the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine. Her name is Marianna Lantratova, 26 years old: «My name? Marianna is international, her surname is Russian because I have relatives in Ukraine and Russia. I come from Lutsk, a town of 150,000 inhabitants in the western area. It was bombed because it is a military base. I don’t sleep at night, I spend the day looking at Instagram and Facebook to find out if relatives and friends are okay. This war? It seems the logic of power and terror of the old USSR. There are two brothers who do not listen to each other, do not speak to each other (referring to the cultural affinities between the two peoples, ed), so the force of arms prevails. Can mobilizing Europe help? Of course, I am convinced of it. Russia must be stopped now or it will never stop. When I was little he subdued Georgia, then installed puppet governments in the former Soviet republics, in 2014 the conquest of Crimea. Now this war, subtle, dirty. Russian planes bomb strategic sites, airports, but they also threw explosives disguised as toys to terrorize the population ».
The mobilizations continue: today in Saluzzo at 6 pm a «sit-in for peace» in Piazza Vineis. Wednesday demonstrations in Savigliano and Cavallermaggiore, while Bra organizes an open City Council. The bishop of Alba Marco Brunetti asked that tomorrow in the churches “pray for peace in Ukraine”; Monsignor Egidio Miragoli of Mondovì invited “everyone to pray that this madness of arrogance, capable of producing only death and pain, ceases”. Pope Francis invited, for Ash Wednesday, to “a day of prayer and fasting for peace, condemning the madness of war”. Meanwhile, many rainbow flags appear again on windows and balconies (as the Acli di Cuneo did yesterday) to simply ask for “peace”.
Even in the Granda the start of all football matches from today to Tuesday will be postponed by 5 minutes, without distinction between professionals and amateurs, “raising the awareness of fans and fans on respect for human life and on the need to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine”. Tomorrow at the Paschiero stadium, for the Ac Cuneo 1905 Olmo-Albese match, the red and white club will distribute to the public two cardboard hands, one with the colors of Cuneo, the other with the colors of the Ukrainian flag and the words “No war” . –