Digital Desk: Russians across the country took to the streets in protest of Russian President Vladimir Putin's war decision to send troops into Ukraine.
On Thursday evening, over 1,000 people gathered in Moscow's centre, chanting "No to war!" as passing cars honked their horns.
At around 7 p.m. local time, protesters took to the streets in several other cities, including St. Petersburg, outside the historic Gostiny Dvor shopping arcade (16:00 GMT). There was a tense atmosphere, with a few people crying against the backdrop of a heavy police presence.
According to the Associated Press, 1,745 people were detained in 54 Russian cities, with at least 957 of them being detained in Moscow.
Hundreds of comments poured in, condemning Moscow's most aggressive actions since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Vladimir Putin described the attack as a "special military operation" to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine from "genocide," a false claim that the US predicted would be used as a pretext for invasion and that many Russians strongly rejected.
As sirens wailed in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, and large explosions rang out in other cities, Russians signed open letters and online petitions demanding that the Kremlin stop the assault, which the Ukrainian health minister said had killed at least 57 Ukrainians and injured dozens more.
Despite the fact that Russia's Investigative Committee issued a warning on Thursday afternoon reminding Russians that unauthorised protests are illegal, protesters held rallies across the country.
Protesters gathered on public squares and outside Russian embassies in cities ranging from Tokyo to Tel Aviv and New York on Thursday to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In the Swiss capital Bern, hundreds gathered, holding Ukrainian flags and chanting "Peace for Ukraine!".
A small demonstration outside the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, organised by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), condemned Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons.
Other protests took place in Beirut, Tel Aviv, Dublin, and Prague against Putin's war.
According to the OVD-Info rights monitor, as of 19:39 GMT on Thursday, police had detained 1,667 people in 53 cities across Russia. According to the Tass news agency, 600 people were arrested in Moscow alone.
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