Thousands of people have taken to public squares and Russian embassies across the globe to protest President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
From London and New York to Beirut and Istanbul, demonstrators, some cloaked in Ukrainian flags, have come out in droves predominantly to show solidarity with Ukrainians.
The invasion, which took place on Thursday morning, comes after months of rising tensions between Russia, Ukraine, and its Western allies.
As Ukrainians prepare for an assault on the capital Kyiv, hundreds of activists staged anti-war protests in Moscow, St Petersburg, and Nizhny Novgorod, among other Russian cities.
The image at the top of this page shows protesters in Moscow marching with a banner that reads: “Ukraine – Peace, Russia – Freedom” in defiance the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation’s warning that explicitly threatened criminal action and even jail time for people taking part in anti-war demonstrations.
Russian police arrested more than 1,750 protesters, at least 957 of them in Moscow, as people rallied in 54 cities across the country against the invasion of Ukraine. Large numbers of Russians have also signed open letters to demand a halt to the attack on Ukraine.
Hundreds of posts came pouring in condemning Moscow’s most aggressive actions since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Vladimir Putin called the attack a “special military operation” to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine from “genocide” — a false claim the U.S. had predicted would be a pretext for invasion, and which many Russians roundly rejected.
Tatyana Usmanova, an opposition activist in Moscow, wrote on Facebook that she thought she was dreaming when she awoke at 5:30 a.m. to the news, which she called “a disgrace that will be forever with us now.”
“I want to ask Ukrainians for forgiveness. We didn’t vote for those who unleashed the war,” she said.
As sirens blasted in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and large explosions were heard there and in other cities, Russians were signing open letters and online petitions demanding the Kremlin halt the assault, which the Ukrainian health minister said had killed at least 57 Ukrainians and wounded dozens more.
“Public opinion is in shock, people are in shock,” political analyst Abbas Gallyamov told The Associated Press.
One petition, started by a prominent human rights advocate, Lev Ponomavyov, garnered over 150,000 signatures within several hours and more than 330,000 by the end of the day.
More than 250 journalists put their names on an open letter decrying the aggression.
Another protest letter was signed by some 250 scientists, while 194 municipal council members in Moscow and other cities signed a third.
“I’m worried about the people very much, I’m worried to tears,” said Zoya Vorobey, a resident of Korolyov, a town outside Moscow, her voice cracking. “I’ve been watching television since this morning, every minute, to see if anything changes. Unfortunately, nothing.”
Several Russian celebrities and public figures, including some working for state TV, spoke out against the attack. Yelena Kovalskaya, director of a state-funded Moscow theater, announced on Facebook she was quitting her job, saying “it’s impossible to work for a killer and get paid by him.”
“I know that right now many of you feel desperation, helplessness, shame over Vladimir Putin’s attack on the friendly nation of Ukraine. But I urge you not to despair,” human rights activist Marina Litvinovich said in a video statement on Facebook, calling for mass protests Thursday evening.
Human rights advocates warned of a new wave of repression on dissent.
“There will be new (criminal) cases involving subverters, spies, treason, prosecution for antiwar protests, there will be detentions of journalists and bloggers, those who authored critical posts on social media, bans on investigations of the situation in the army and so on,” said a post on Facebook by Pavel Chikov, a Russian lawyer, human rights activist and head of Agora International Human Rights Group.
“It is hard to say how big this new wave will be, given that everything has been suppressed already.”
Despite the pressure from the authorities, more than 1,000 people gathered in the center of Moscow Thursday evening, chanting “No to war!” as passing cars honked their horns.
Hundreds also took to the streets in St. Petersburg and dozens in Yekaterinburg.
“This is the most shameful and terrible day in my life. I even was not able to go to work. My country is an aggressor. I hate Putin. What else should be done to make people open their eyes?” Yekaterina Kuznetsova, 40-year-old engineer who joined the demonstration in St. Petersburg, told journalists.