Russian mountaineer unfolds Ukraine's flag on Mt. Everest to condemn war; Twitter reacts

In protest against Moscow's "unjust" war on Kyiv, Russian mountaineer Katya Lipka unfolded the Ukrainian flag on the summit of Mount Everest after completing her strenuous climb on May 24. Sharing her discord against the Russian war, Lipka shared a picture of herself on Instagram where she is seen hoisting the yellow-blue sovereign and independent Ukraine's flag. "The summit of Everest 8848m," she captioned the picture uploaded on June 3 adding that "something turned upside down" ever since Russia invaded Ukraine. Her photo ever since has gone viral on social media. 

Even former Ukrainian ambassador to Austria, Oleksander Scherba retweeted the mountaineer's picture on Twitter.

On Instagram, Lipka shared minutes from her journey to the world's tallest summit. A blogger by profession, Lipka shared tales from her pre-climb days. "Arrived in Nepal, and in 2.5 weeks from Kathmandu to summit 8848m. On a lame leg without preparation and without acclimatisation. It's not easy," she narrated. 

In the following post, she also held a poster demanding the freedom of Putin's arch-rival and staunch Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. "Free Navalny," said a poster Lipka held in the picture. For the unversed, Navalny has been convicted and sentenced to additional 9 years in prison for fraud and contempt of court. His petition to renounce the verdict of moving him to a maximum security colony was dismissed by the Moscow court.

Netizens laud Lipka's courage: 'What a hero'

With over 190k followers on Instagram, Lipka's message spread like a wildfire. Soon netizens admired her courage and confidence. "Very courageous lady! Congratulations on making it literally to the top of the world," one wrote. "Wow! What a message," wrote another. Appreciating her gesture, another wrote, "May God bless you wonderful Russians Woman for scaling Mount Everest and unfurling the Ukrainian flag in protest against the Russian war. Putin needs to be stopped by whatever means necessary..." wrote the third.

Hundreds rally against Putin in US and Canada on Russia Day

Hundreds of protesters in at least 8 cities in the US, including New York, Chicago, Portland, Washington, and Philadelphia carried out anti-war protests to deplore Russian President Putin's "unprovoked" invasion of Ukraine. According to Ukrinform, protestors carried posters and chanted anti-war slogans..."War is evil, No to violence..." they wrote. They also drew parallels between Putin and Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. "Our action is part of a global initiative dedicated to Russia Day, June 12, organized by representatives of the Russian community in different countries - from Australia and New Zealand to the United States and Canada," said a Russian descendant Dmitry Valuev who is a representative of Russian America for Democracy in Ukrinform.

(Image: @lipka.fm./Instagram)