Thousands of Serbs waving Russian flags and carrying pictures of President Vladimir Putin marched through Belgrade to the Russian embassy on Friday, in a rare show of public support for Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.
Serbia is performing a delicate balancing act between its European aspirations, partnership with NATO and its centuries-old religious, ethnic and political alliance with Russia.For many ordinary Serbs, the memory of NATO's bombing of strategic targets in Serbia to bring an end to the Balkan wars of the 1990s is still all too fresh, an action that was strongly opposed by Russia at the U.N. Security Council.
A younger man wearing a cap with a red star symbol said he came to support Russia in everything it does.Among the protesters were also local members of Russia's "Night Wolves" motorcycle club, known to have close ties to Putin and with a history of fighting in Ukraine on the side of pro-Russian separatists during the 2014 Crimea crisis and war over the Donbass region.
Russia calls its actions a 'special operation' designed not to occupy territory but to destroy its neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.
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