Protesters supporting Ukraine converged on the Russian embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, this afternoon, February 25, where pleaded for help for relatives 'hiding in their basements and dying defending their country'

Speaking in the video, a demonstrator who did not want to be named, said: ‘All of us have families there in Ukraine, right now, that are being bombed by Russian forces, some of us have relatives in the Ukrainian army, some of us have people in the country, friends and families. Our relatives are now hiding in the basements of condos, because the cities are being bombed, their houses are being destroyed.

‘We’re here to tell the world that Russia is the aggressor, it’s not the saviour, it’s not a good country. They are real aggressors and they are trying to take control of an independent country and they are killing Ukrainian people on Ukrainian soil. Ukrainian people are dying defending their own homes. We are not fighting on Russian soil, or neutral soil, they are on Ukrainian territory in our cities. They have launched full-scale invasion. We want the world to support Ukraine. We want the whole world to know the truth.’

Protesters held Ukrainian flags and anti-war banners. Many of them were Ukrainian nationals living abroad and they were joined by Thai locals supporting their cause.

The protest rally was one of the hundreds taking place around the world following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian leaders.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine’s Donbas region. He said in a public address on Thursday: ‘We decided to launch a special military action aimed at demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine.’

Dozens of civilians are believed to have died in the ensuing sustained bombardments of Ukraine. Officials in Ukraine said they had killed ‘around 50 Russian occupiers’ while the large-scale attack left at least 137 civilians and soldiers dead, and 316 more injured.

Independent Russian human rights monitor OVD-Info said around 340 people were arrested at protests in Saint Petersburg. It said at least 1,391 protesters have been detained as protests denouncing the invasion of Ukraine erupted across 51 cities.