To mark the death of children who died in the ongoing Ukraine war, activists in Georgia put 145 pairs of children’s shoes outside their parliament building in the capital Tbilisi.
This demonstration in Tbilisi took place on Wednesday, March 30, 2022.
According to Nexta, a Belarusian media outlet, 145 pairs were used to represent the estimated number of children who have lost their lives since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started in late February this year.
In #Tbilisi, activists put up 145 pairs of children’s shoes outside the parliament. That is how many children, according to prosecutors, have died in #Ukraine since the beginning of the war. pic.twitter.com/lk2HLYC3Lf
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) March 30, 2022
Earlier, a similar event took place in Hungary on Sunday, March 27, 2022. Peace activists put 300 pairs of shoes outside the Danube River in memory of 300 women, children, and elderly who died after Russian bombs fell on a theatre that was being used as shelter by people in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Interestingly, this event was held near a memorial called “Shoes on the Danube Bank”, which commemorates the massacre of Hungarian Jews who were asked to leave their shoes behind before they were shot into the river.
Over the weekend, protesters placed new shoes at the Holocaust Memorial on the banks of the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary.
The Memorial commemorates those Jewish victims of the World War II who were shot into the water. pic.twitter.com/iopwrGcadn
— Aid For Ukraine (@Aid_ForUkraine) March 29, 2022
🇭🇺 300 pairs of shoes have appeared beside the Danube River as part of a protest in solidarity with Ukraine.
The footwear alludes to the ‘Shoes on the Danube Bank’ memorial, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy referenced in a scathing statement to Hungary’s Vikto… pic.twitter.com/1qcyFf6jkz
— Metro Response | NewsNow (@MetroResponse) March 29, 2022
Dmytro Kuleba, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, shared the pictures of the Hungary event on Facebook and said it was inspired by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech.
“Activists were inspired by President Zelenskyy’s speech. A few days ago, he mentioned this special place in his address at the EU summit. He called to realise that the atrocities of the Russians in Mariupol now, in the 21st century, are no different from the atrocities of the Nazis in Budapest in 1944-1945. This call echoed in the hearts of not only Ukrainians but also many Europeans and Hungarians,” he wrote.
Several artists and organisations have been expressing anti-war sentiments and shown solidarity with the people of Ukraine through plays, opera shows, and online concerts.
