(Reuters.) Thousands of protesters marched in public places and outside Russian embassies from New York to condemn the invading Ukrainian army on Thursday.

Only three hours after Vladimir Putin declared that he was launching his military operation, the earliest protest against Russia took place outside Washington’s Russian Embassy at 1 AM EST (0600 GMT).

According to local news reports, there were dozens of Ukrainian flag-waving protesters in Washington waving and singing “Stop Russian aggression!”

Many demonstrators from Ukraine and weeping gathered in London outside Downing Street to urge Britain to take more action.

He said that they needed help and that someone should support them. “Ukraine has too little pressure and too much to handle.”

One protestor in Paris told Reuters that he felt the world is at a dangerous time.

Javier Bardem (Oscar-winning Spanish actor) was among the crowd outside of the Russian Embassy in Madrid.

It is an invasion. … Bardem stated that it violated Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and international law.

A large crowd of protestors carried an enormous flag in Times Square, Manhattan.

In Bern, Switzerland, many people gathered to wave Ukrainian flags, and shout “Peace for Ukraine!””.

Agapi Tamir (28), one of the few dozen Greeks from Ukraine who protested in Athens:

“Our only hope is for a miracle to stop this terrible, frightening happening.”

A very small protest was organized in Geneva by ICAN (the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) which won the Nobel Peace Prize. It took place outside of the U.N. European Headquarters.

Weitere Demonstrations were also held in Beirut (Te Aviv), Dublin, Dublin, and Prague.

Red paint was also used to deface a Russian double-eagle emblem that stood beside the Russian Embassy gate in Dublin.

Social media postings indicate that more protests are planned for the U.S. cities Houston and Denver.

Protesters in Russia defied a warning from the Russian government that threatened them with criminal prosecution or even imprisonment for their participation.

Many protestors rallied in Moscow, St Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg to chant slogans like “No to War!” Holding up temporary signs.

The OVD Info rights watcher stated that police had already detained 1,667 individuals in 53 locations by 1939 GMT. According to the Tass news agency, six hundred people were detained in Moscow.