This Viral 2019 Photo Of Russian-Ukrainian Couple With Their Flag Is The Hope We All Need Now
Since the conflict began an image has gone viral on social media showing a man draped in the Ukrainian flag embracing a woman wearing the Russian flag. Many including Congress MP Shashi Tharoor have shared the photo as a symbol of hope for peace.
Russia and Ukraine are currently at war, and there have been fatalities on both sides.
Like former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain said, "In war, whichever side may call itself the victor, there are no winners, but all are losers."
At the end of the day, it is the people of both sides who suffer and that is why a large section of the Russian population is also opposed to the war.
AFP
Since the conflict began an image has gone viral on social media showing a man draped in the Ukrainian flag embracing a woman wearing the Russian flag.
Viral image
Many including Congress MP Shashi Tharoor have shared the photo as a symbol of hope for peace.
Poignant: A man draped in the Ukrainian flag embraces a woman wearing the Russian flag. Let us hope love, peace & co-existence triumph over war & conflict. pic.twitter.com/WTwSOBgIFK
¡ª Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) February 25, 2022
The photo dates back to November 2019, and the people in the picture are Juliana Kuznetsova, a Russian national and her fianc¨¦ a Ukrainian.
The photo was posted by Juliana on her Instagram page after they had attended a concert by the Belarusian rapper Max Korzh in Warsaw, Poland.
They borrowed these flags and asked to photograph them together after the concert, Juliana had told The Washington Post in December 2019, after it went viral.
Juliana claimed that the photo was not staged.
¡°We had no political intentions with this photograph,¡± she said.
¡°But when the photo spread all over the Internet, I realized: perhaps such a photo will give people hope. And the belief that everything can be fine, no matter what. Love can defeat anything, ¡±added Juliana.
Growing tensions
Meanwhile, as the Russian troops continue to advance in Ukraine, there is growing opposition to the war even in Russia.
Reuters
Despite the strict warning to Russians not to take to the streets against the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, thousands protested on Thursday soon after the televised announcement of Putin.
Several thousand people gathered near Pushkin Square in central Moscow, while up to 1,000 people gathered in the former imperial capital Saint Petersburg, according to AFP correspondents at the scene.
In Moscow, protesters were seen massing around Pushkin Square chanting "No to war!"
AFP
The same slogan, "No to war" was spray-painted on the front gate of the Russian parliament's lower house.
OVD-Info, which tracks arrests at opposition rallies, said nearly 1,700 people were detained in 53 Russian cities. More than 900 were arrested in Moscow and over 400 in Saint Petersburg, the monitor said.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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