(NewsNation Now) — There have been protests and anti-war demonstrations around the world following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
That includes a demonstration in New York City — the Empire State is home to nearly 150,000 Ukrainian-Americans. The demonstration outside of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation on the city’s Upper East Side included Russian-Americans protesting President Vladimir Putin’s military action.
Some noted that Putin is going back through the history books — back to World War II — to justify action against Ukraine. Many have called it a cynical bid of disinformation.
In Warren, Michigan, just north of Detroit, an emergency rally was held at a local Ukrainian church.
“Our community has reacted with horror,” said Mykola Murskyj of the Ukrainian-American Crisis Response Team of Michigan. “We’re terrified that the ancestral homeland that our ancestors fought to make independent can be made some kind of vassal state of Russia once again. And we can watch (in) that process the undoing of all of our ancestors’ work who fought for liberty.”
There have also been protests across the world in cities including London, Paris and Tel Aviv. But a massive protest in Russia itself may be the most noteworthy as demonstrators risked detainment and arrest.
There have been clashes with police and hundreds of protesters detained in Moscow and St. Petersburg. At least 170 people were rounded up on the streets of St. Petersburg alone, according to reporters on the ground. In Moscow, protesters are being prevented from gathering in large groups and are broken up by police as soon as they begin to rally.