How the world answered the invasion by 28 February 2022

What did the international response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine look like by 28 February 2022? In the first days it ran along three tracks: courts, sport and the street.

The legal track

On 28 February 2022, Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan announced that the International Criminal Court would conduct a criminal investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. The announcement came a day after Ukraine sued Russia in the International Court of Justice, on 27 February 2022. Kyiv asked that court for an injunction ordering an immediate end to Russian military activities.

The two steps were distinct. One was a case brought by Ukraine against Russia. The other was an investigation announced by the ICC prosecutor into alleged crimes in Ukraine.

Sport and the boycott

On 27 February 2022, the Latvian ice hockey club Dinamo Riga withdrew from the Kontinental Hockey League in protest at the invasion. It joined the Finnish club Jokerit, which had already left. The move was reported as part of a boycott of Russia and Belarus.

Protest at home and abroad

The invasion also brought people onto the streets. In Russia, around 3,000 anti-war protesters had been detained by 26 February 2022, since President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion. On 27 February 2022, anti-war demonstrators gathered in Minsk, despite Belarus's involvement in the invasion, and around 440 people were detained.

Protests spread well beyond the region. On 26 February 2022, demonstrators gathered at the Russian embassy in London, threw eggs at the building and called for Putin to withdraw his troops. Police in Tehran dispersed protesters chanting "Death to Putin" outside the Ukrainian embassy. Around 200 demonstrators in Taipei called for the war to end.

In the United States, people gathered in Kansas City, Salt Lake City, at the Space Needle in Seattle and in other cities to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and call for peace. Several Freedom Convoy truckers also gathered at Grant Park in Chicago in solidarity with Ukraine.

What the pattern showed

Taken together, the reports show how quickly the response widened. Within days of the invasion, Ukraine had gone to the ICJ, the ICC prosecutor had announced an investigation, clubs had quit a Russian-based league, and detentions of protesters were recorded in both Russia and Belarus. Demonstrations in London, Tehran, Taipei and across the United States showed that the reaction was not confined to Europe.