Thousands of demonstrators in cities across the world took to the streets tonight to call on Vladimir Putin not to invade Ukraine after the U.S. warned the country’s government that Russian troops are ‘ready to go’.
Images showed protesters outside Russian embassies and elsewhere in cities including London, Berlin, Paris, Copenhagen and Tokyo making their voices heard.
Many held placards that mocked and criticised Russia’s president for his aggressive posturing, while many others pleaded for war to be avoided – despite the worrying signs that a conflict could be on the way.
One image, taken outside the Russian embassy in London’s Kensington Palace Gardens, showed scores of demonstrators waving Ukrainian flags in the air as they lined the pavement while holding placards.
Another photo taken outside Russia’s diplomatic HQ in Britain showed demonstrators with placards that took aim aim at Putin, including one which depicted him with a Hitler-like moustache.
In Berlin, demonstrators waved Ukrainian flags in front of the Brandenburg Gate, which was lit up in the country’s colours.
In Copenhagen, scores held an enormous Ukrainian flag aloft as others massed with banners in front of the Russian embassy.
In Paris, the city hall was lit up with the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag as the city’s mayor Anne Hidalgo stood outside it flanked by the Ukrainian ambassador to France Vadym Omelchenko.
In Tokyo, children were pictured holding banners that read ‘Stand with Ukraine’ as others called for the world to ‘Stop Putin’.
Images also showed similar demonstrations in other cities, including Stockholm in Sweden, Kathmandu in Nepal and Warsaw in Poland.
The global show of support for Ukraine was taking place as U.S. President Joe Biden warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of an ‘imminent’ attack by Putin’s troops in the next 48 hours, just hours after Ukraine was hit by a ‘massive’ cyberattack targeting its government and banks.
Thousands of demonstrators in cities across the world took to the streets tonight to call on Vladimir Putin not to invade Ukraine after the U.S. warned the country’s government that Russian troops are ‘ready to go’. Images showed protesters outside the Russian embassy and elsewhere in cities including London (above), Berlin, Paris, Copenhagen and Tokyo making their voices heard
In Berlin, demonstrators waved Ukrainian flags in front of the Brandenburg Gate. The global show of support for Ukraine was taking place as U.S. President Joe Biden warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of an ‘imminent’ attack by Putin’s troops in the next 48 hours
In Paris, the city hall was lit up with the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag as the city’s mayor Anne Hidalgo stood outside it flanked by the Ukrainian ambassador to France Vadym Omelchenko
In Copenhagen, scores of people massed with banners in front of the Russian embassy. One woman (pictured) was seen draped in the Ukrainian flag
There were reportedly more than 1,000 protesters at tonight’s demonstration in London. Some were heard shouting ‘Old man take your meds!’ and ‘Putin hands off Ukraine’.
They also held other signs aloft, including one that read ‘Love Ukraine’ and another saying ‘Ukrainians will resist’.
One woman held a placard that read ‘Putin kills’ alongside a mocked up radioactive warning sign – an apparent reference to Russia’s huge stockpile of nuclear weapons.
In Berlin, the German government said it chose to light up the Brandenburg Gate to show ‘solidarity’ with Ukraine.
‘We are showing our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, the many Berliners with Ukrainian roots but also with the many Russians who want peace in Russia and Ukraine,’ Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey said in a statement.
‘They all want nothing more than an end to the escalation and a peaceful settlement to this threatening conflict,’ she added.
However, despite the show of support, tensions continued to ratchet up tonight.
Another photo taken outside Russia’s diplomatic HQ in Britain showed demonstrators with placards that took aim aim at Putin, including one which depicted him with a Hitler-like moustache
A demonstrator holds a placard saying ‘Ukraine will never surrender’ as he attends a protest outside the Russian Embassy, in London on Wednesday night
One woman held a placard that read ‘Putin kills’ alongside a mocked up radioactive warning sign – an apparent reference to Russia’s huge stockpile of nuclear weapons
One image, taken outside the Russian embassy in London’s Kensington Palace Gardens, showed scores of demonstrators waving Ukrainian flags in the air as they lined the pavement while holding placards
Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo (right), deputy mayor of Paris Arnaud Ngatcha (left) and Ukrainian ambassador to France Vadym Omelchenko pose in front of Paris Town Hall
The websites of Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service, and Cabinet of Ministers were all out of action Wednesday afternoon after a cyberattack.
Bomb threats were also phoned in to several government buildings, thought to be part of a psychological pressure campaign by Moscow.
Deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov said banks were also targeted in a ‘massive’ distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack – which uses computer networks to bombard websites with information until they crash – in what analysts have warned would likely be the first stage of a Russian attack.
It came just hours after the whole country was placed on a war footing: A state of emergency was declared and approved by parliament, 200,000 military reservists called up, border zones were restricted and three million Ukrainians told to leave Russia, with Kiev acknowledging for the first time that an attack could now take place anywhere, at any time.
As the noose tightened, Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to send more weapons to help Ukraine defend itself against what the US has warned will be an all-out Russian assault.
Johnson also promised more and tougher sanctions against Russia if Putin escalates further.
In Berlin, the German government said it chose to light up the Brandenburg Gate to show ‘solidarity’ with Ukraine. Above: People draped in the Ukrainian flag stand in front of the Brandenburg Gate
Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey said in a statement: ‘We are showing our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, the many Berliners with Ukrainian roots but also with the many Russians who want peace in Russia and Ukraine’. Above: Two women hold Ukrainian flags aloft in front of the Brandenburg Gate
In Copenhagen, scores held an enormous Ukrainian flag aloft as others massed with banners in front of the Russian embassy
Earlier in the day, Putin had given a sabre-rattling address to his troops to mark Defender of the Fatherland Day, praising their ‘battle readiness’ while saying he is assured that they will fight to defend Russian security interests – which he called ‘non-negotiable’.
Russia also evacuated staff from its Kiev embassy.
Ukraine’s security agency claimed 45,000 plastic body bags have now been ordered to the Russian frontlines, giving the first hint of the amount lives Putin is willing to sacrifice to get what he wants – after Joe Biden said supplies of blood for transfusions have also been brought in.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned that Putin is ‘hell-bent’ on a full-scale invasion of Ukraine with a direct attack on the capital of Kiev ‘highly likely’ to be in his plans.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison predicted the attack is ‘likely to occur within the next 24 hours’.
Meanwhile the EU imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Russia targeting the defence minister, heads of the armed forces, all 351 members of its parliament, and prominent propagandists.
A senior U.S. official warned Putin’s military is as ready as it can be to launch a full scale invasion of Ukraine, with 80 per cent of Russian troops assembled around Ukraine in attack positions within three to 30 miles of the border.
‘They are literally ready to go now,’ the official told NBC News, adding that Russia has brought in ‘nearly 100 percent of all the forces we anticipated [Putin] would need’ for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainians residing in Japan protest against Russia’s actions in Ukraine, during a rally near the Russian Embassy in Tokyo
Demonstrators in Tokyo massed on pavements as they held signs aloft calling for an end to ‘Russian aggression’
This woman in Tokyo held a sign that read ‘Stop Putin’ and ‘stop war’. The protest in Tokyo was one of many going on around the world on Wednesday
‘He is as ready as he can be. We’ve been saying any day now and it’s certainly possible that today is that day,’ the U.S. defence official said.
And amid an ‘imminent’ Russian invasion, two separate convoys with no identifiable insignia were moving towards the city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine along different roads from the direction of the Russian border, a Reuters witness said on Wednesday.
One convoy included nine tanks and an infantry fighting vehicle, while the other was made up of trucks and fuel tankers, said the reporter, who was in the territory of two Russia-backed rebel regions recognised as independent by Moscow on Monday.
And on Wednesday night, the crack troops of Russia’s advanced units were banned from using all mobile phones in what was believed to be a key sign that they would invade Kyiv-controlled Ukraine.
The 1st and 2nd Army Corps in Donbas received an order to turn off mobile phones, according to the volunteer project Informnapalm on its Facebook page.
‘Attention! ….(we) received information from insiders from ORDLO that at 20:40 (Moscow time) all advanced units of the 1st and 2nd Army Corps were ordered to completely turn off phones and walkie-talkies.
There were also protests outside the Russian embassy in Stockholm. Above: A man holds a sign that reads ‘Hands off Ukraine’
Lusine Djanyan, from protest group Pussy Riot, stands next to demonstrators in Stockholm holding a placard reading ‘Stop Putin’s aggressions against Ukraine’
Police officers in Warsaw talk to a group of people holding banners during a protest to show solidarity with Ukraine outside the Russian Embassy in Warsaw, Poland
Protesters in Warsaw gathered outside the Russian embassy on Wednesday, in scenes that were echoed around the world
Protesters in Warsaw also appeared to have let off a smoke bomb during their demonstrations, as seen above
‘They were strictly forbidden to go on the air for this time, they were even ordered to remove the batteries from their phones. As an option, the Russians will probably scan the space and all available phones on the line of contact in order to make target designations by coordinates,’ the statement said.
Meanwhile, Ms Truss sought to defend the UK’s own sanctions – criticised yesterday for not being harsh enough – by insisting that ‘nothing’ is off the table should Putin decide to escalate.
‘We’ve been very clear that we’re going to limit Russian access to British markets,’ Truss told Sky. ‘We’re going to stop the Russian government with raising sovereign debt in the United Kingdom.’
‘There will be even more tough sanctions on key oligarchs, on key organisations in Russia, limiting Russia’s access to the financial markets, if there is a full scale invasion of Ukraine,’ Truss said.
Separately, US Secretary of State Antony Bliken announced that he has called off a high-level summit with Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov scheduled for Thursday, saying it ‘does not make sense’ to go ahead with peace negotiations when an invasion is already underway.
Human rights activists hold placards urging to promote peace, during a demonstration outside the Russian Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Wednesday
The demonstrators in Nepal showed their support for Ukraine on Wednesday by holding posters and placards aloft
Some of the banners were written in English. Some said: ‘Russia: Stop war, promote peace’. The scenes were echoed elsewhere around the world
Amid the increasing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the protesters in Kathmandu were calling for an end to escalating hostilities
Russia today began evacuating diplomatic staff from Ukraine, with the flag lowered over the embassy in Kiev.
Moscow’s foreign ministry announced on Tuesday that it would evacuate diplomats from the country soon, saying this was in order to ‘protect their lives’.
Asked if the evacuation had begun, the embassy’s spokesperson Denis Golenko told AFP by phone today: ‘Yes.’
Golenko said the evacuation was ‘linked to the fact that Western embassies announced evacuations of some of their staff, and that our ministry also took this decision.’
Some Western embassies, including the United States and Britain, moved their staff to the city of Lviv near the Polish border.
They did so fearing a Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying the capital could come under attack.
Fighting also escalated along the frontlines between separatist forces and Ukraine’s men overnight, with one Ukrainian soldier killed and six injured in shelling. A house was also hit in the village of Muratovo.
