Protesters 'stand with Ukraine' across United States

By Julia Harte

(Reuters) - Protests against Russia's invasion of Ukraine are planned in several major U.S. cities on Thursday, calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt a missile and troop assault as U.S. President Joe Biden maps out his response.

The earliest known protest occurred outside Russia's embassy in Washington around 1 a.m. EST (0600 GMT) on Thursday, shortly after news broke that Russian forces had launched a massive attack against its neighbor.

Local news reports showed dozens of protesters in the U.S. capital waving Ukrainian flags and chanting "stop Russian aggression."

Additional protests are scheduled for later on Thursday in Washington, New York City, Houston, and Denver, according to social media posts. Similar rallies took place in cities around the world on Thursday.

Russia's invasion, the biggest attack by one country against another in Europe since World War Two, has left many Ukrainian-Americans fearful for the safety of loved ones still residing in the eastern European country.

One of the people at Washington's early-morning protest, which dispersed before sunrise, told Washington television station WUSA that he had been pleading with his parents and sister to leave and get to safety for weeks, to no avail.

Dozens of Ukrainians began fleeing the country into Poland after Russia's assault began on Thursday, some taking only what they could carry and leaving behind possessions and pets.

In Russia, protest against the invasion of Ukraine has been stifled. A Moscow-based opposition activist, Marina Litvinovich, was detained by Russian police on Thursday after she called for anti-war protests in the country.

(Reporting by Julia Harte; editing by Jonathan Oatis)