Russia's War in Ukraine Draws Protests Around the Globe

Russian leader Vladimir Putin spent weeks making his case for attacking Ukraine, culminating in a Sunday speech that was "awash," as the New York Times put it, "with hard-line Russian nationalism, angry paranoia toward the West, baseless claims of Ukrainian aggression, a sense of lost imperial pride on the verge of reclamation and, most of all, invocations of history, much of it distorted or fabricated." Though his arguments—and the various attempts to fabricate incidents to serve as casus belli—may have been aimed primarily at his own populace, they failed to completely suppress even Russians angered by the unprovoked invasion.

On the first day of Putin's assault on Russia's southwestern neighbor, thousands of Russians shook off state propaganda and ignored the threat of arrest to demonstrate against the war. By day's end, ABC News reported, more than 1,200 had been detained in more than 50 cities and towns across the country.

Around the world, hundreds of thousands more asked their own governments to stand firm against Moscow. Here are some images from the day's demonstrations.