Supporters gathered Thursday at the Russian embassy and the White House in D.C. to protest the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Demonstrators armed with flags and signs protested outside the Russian embassy in the Glover Park neighborhood Thursday morning.
“We just came here to be together at this moment and express our outrage,” said Ilona Dolfler, who has lived in the U.S. for 30 years, but she is now concerned about her friends and family that are in Kyiv.
“They’re scared, but they’re not panicking,” Dolfler said. “They stay calm and ready to defend their motherland. So I’m very, very proud of my fellow Ukrainians right now.”
Caden Umansky wants action to be taken to stop the invasion.
“(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is a tyrant,” Umansky said. “And the fact that he is being allowed to march into another sovereign country is absolutely disgusting. And it needs to be stopped.”
Later Thursday afternoon, a group of protesters were at Lafayette Square near the White House calling for tougher sanctions on Russia and more military support for Ukraine.
“President Biden, are you ready to stand by Ukraine,” said one woman on a loud speaker.
One man said he believes Russia won’t stop with Ukraine. “What about Poland? … What about Finland?”
Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv as Russian forces pressed on with a full-scale invasion that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 Ukrainians in the first full day of fighting, The Associated Press reported. Civilians piled into trains and cars to flee, and hotels in Kyiv were being evacuated amid early indications of an assault.
Two people living in Ukraine with ties to the D.C. area told WTOP that the Russian invasion is cementing the Ukrainians’ resolve, and hoped people in the U.S. keep the pressure on.
WTOP’s Abigail Constantino, Luke Lukert, Mike Murillo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
