News that Russian warships are in international waters near Australia will only serve to create more anti-Putin sentiment, a G20 protest organiser says.
Defence on Wednesday confirmed the warships were north of Australia. Prime Minister Tony Abbott said it was not unprecedented, with the Russian navy also deploying to Singapore when the republic hosted an APEC conference, and in the Pacific when San Francisco when it hosted a major summit.
The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) is expecting at least 200 people to rally against Russian president Vladimir Putin in Brisbane's King George Square on Saturday.
But AFUO president Stefan Romaniw says the naval situation is encouraging more people from the wider community to attend the rally because it highlights Mr Putin's arrogance.
"People are starting to see that the man's erratic and anything can happen," Mr Romaniw told AAP.
"These things in a sense are unprecedented and that's the way he operates."
Mr Romaniw has called on other G20 leaders to show their disapproval of Russia's actions, particularly over the MH17 plane crash investigation, by imposing sanctions on the country and stripping it of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
"He needs to be hit hard, to be ostracised in that (G20) meeting and feel the full brunt of the international community," he said.
Mr Romaniw said demonstrators would send their message to Mr Putin on Saturday through a variety of street theatre, speeches and anti-Putin signage.
Mr Putin is expected to arrive in Brisbane on Friday evening.
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