Dozens of members of the Hindu Sena, a Hindu organisation, took out a march in the Gwalior district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday in support of Russia amid its ongoing military operation in Ukraine.
Hindu Sena's national president, Vishnu Gupta, and other members criticised Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and said he is the enemy of his own country.
"Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky is a RAT holed up in some western embassy, making television appearances only to provoke the war and further human sufferings. The world needs to wake up to his drama, he is NO HERO, he is the enemy number one of Ukrainians and humanity," Hindu Sena said.
Condemning Kiev authorities for handing out weapons to civilians "to fight their fascist war", Gupta said that Zelensky "keeps asking for more and more weapons but not once has he appealed for humanitarian aid for the Ukrainians".
"The Ukrainian military has killed Russian officers and their negotiator, and yet they call themselves the victims. So far, Ukrainians don't seem to show any intention of stopping the war," Gupta said.
The members were holding placards in support of Russia and India-Russia relations along with the national flags of the two countries.
Hindu Sena Protest In India's Madhya Pradesh
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Hindu Sena Protest In India's Madhya Pradesh
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One of the supporter pasting poster "Long Live India Russia Friendship"
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Gupta blamed the US and his allies for escalating the situation "by unnecessarily interfering in two countries' bilateral ties".
"The western world and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) must stop their proxy war against Russia endangering the civilian population of Ukraine and Russia."
Russia Has Every Right To Secure Its Border
The Hindu Sena's national president also accused Ukrainian authorities of blackmail as India had abstained from voting on a US-sponsored UN Security Council resolution that condemned Russia's special operation in February.
"India or any other country abstaining from voting, as a sovereign nation, has every right to take a stand according to its interests and relationship and no country or its citizens have the right to humiliate and beat up other citizens. It was very disturbing to see the Ukraine representative at the UNSC meeting openly arm-twisting and blackmailing India by holding our students hostage, so we vote in their favour. Later, many media reports surfaced of discrimination and humiliation in the FACIST & RACIST Ukraine. There are also reports of shooting foreign students trying to leave Ukraine," he said.
Indian students that were stuck in different parts of Ukraine accused Ukrainian security forces and border officials of racist treatment as they attempted to flee the country.
"No media is talking about Ukraine changing its constitution to exclude the Russian-speaking population and is doing ethnic cleansing of Russians in Ukraine, something that western media has wrongfully accused India of doing in Kashmir for years."
Gupta said that western media has consistently spread pro-Ukraine propaganda and fake news against Russia.
"India is not a western colony anymore and we need unbiased news and not the opinions of media organisations dumped on us. There were pro-Russian gatherings in Serbia and protests against NATO for fuelling the war in Ukraine," Gupta added.
He also stressed that Russia has every right to take necessary action to safeguard its borders, adding that India will always support Russia, "as Russia has always been a true friend of India".
On 24 February, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the newly recognised breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian aggression. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had made the tough decision to start the operation to stop the genocide of the Donbass population which the Kiev regime had been waging for eight years.