By Julia Harte

(Reuters) – Protests in major U.S. towns are scheduled for Thursday against Russia’s invasion Ukraine. They call on Russian President Vladimir Putin, as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden plans his response.

Around 1 AM EST (0600 GMT) Thursday morning, the earliest protest was held outside Russia’s Embassy in Washington. This occurred shortly after it became known that Russian forces had attacked its neighbor.

Local media reports revealed that dozens of Ukrainian-speaking protestors gathered in Washington, waving Ukrainian flags while chanting “Stop Russian aggression!”

Social media postings indicate that there will be additional demonstrations in Washington and New York City as well as Houston, Houston, Denver and Denver later Thursday. Similar demonstrations occurred in many cities across the globe on Thursday.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is the most serious attack against another European nation since World War Two has made many Ukrainian-Americans nervous about their safety and the security of those still living in eastern Europe.

Washington station WUSA was told by one of those at the early morning protest that he’d been trying to get his sister and parents to flee for several weeks.

After Russia attacked Ukraine on Thursday, dozens of Ukrainians fled the country and sought refuge in Poland. Some took only their personal possessions with them and left behind pets and other belongings.

Russia has repressed protests over the Ukrainian invasion. Russian police took Marina Litvinovich into custody on Thursday, after she had called for protests against the war in Ukraine.