Police have been called after climate activists blockaded a Russia-linked shipping company's offices in Glasgow in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
The campaigners, from a number of different groups including Extinction Rebellion, are demanding an end to gas shipping that they say is fuelling the invasion of Ukraine.
Four activists have locked themselves to four bikes and another to a gas canister outside the headquarters of Seapeak on Elliot Street while three activists are sitting on the ground and blocking the office.
Others are displaying banners reading “Stop Shipping War” and “Make Renewables Not War”.
Blue and yellow smoke flares, representing the colours of the Ukrainian flag, have also been set off.
The blockade is responding to an open letter from Extinction Rebellion Ukraine, which called Russian coal, oil and gas an “existential threat both for world peace and for the climate”.
Stuart Bretherton, 23, a support worker, said: “Seapeak’s shipping operations provide funding to Putin’s war machine, a colonial occupation of West Papua and other regimes guilty of human rights abuses.
“We are here to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine by doing what we can to disrupt this money pipeline.
“In many of the escalating crises we are witnessing – from war, to climate breakdown, to cost of living rises – the fossil fuel industry sits at the centre, so its clear we need a just transition to renewable energy for the sake of peace, democracy and the planet.”
Scott Tully, 30, a youth worker in attendance, added: “We are demonstrating the link between fossil fuel activity in Glasgow and Russia’s war on Ukraine, though Seapeak also operate in other regions experiencing violence.”
Seapeak – and other war profiteering companies – are seen as an acceptable part of our economy by our governments. We need a root and branch shake up of our economy, towards renewable energy for peace and away from cynical war-profiteers like Seapeak.”
Seapeak has ownership interests in 74 vessels and describes itself as “a world leader, with one of the largest fleets of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) vessels”.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Officers are currently engaging with a small group who are carrying out a protest in Elliot Street, Glasgow.
“Police Scotland is a rights-based organisation that puts our values of integrity, fairness, respect and a commitment to upholding human rights at the heart of everything we do.
“This means that we will protect the rights of the people who wish to peacefully protest or counter-protest, balanced against the rights of the wider community.”
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