Communities came together as Greater Manchester sent a united message of love, support and solidarity to Ukraine.
In the city centre, Piccadilly became a sea of blue and yellow as Ukrainian flags were waved by the crowd.
A few hundred first gathered by the Queen Victoria statue at Piccadilly Gardens to show support before 2pm this afternoon (February 26).
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As the demonstration went on, that number swelled to over a thousand, with the crowd spilling out onto both sides of Piccadilly towards Oldham Street.
Ukraine flags were joined by flags from other Eastern European countries - including Poland, Lithuania and Georgia.
A large number of people from Hong Kong, with their own experiences of political instability in recent years, also formed part of the crowd in solidarity with Ukraine too.
Songs and chants broke out as the crowd demanded an end to war, while speakers took turns on the microphone to make their voice heard.
A young man, born and raised in Manchester, summed up the feeling of the crowd as he told the hundreds on the street why he felt compelled to turn out at the protest.
"It makes me sick listening to what is going on," he said.
"Stop the war and stop all war."
Organisers of the demonstration set the event up at short notice to show solidarity with Ukraine, honour the victims of the conflict and call on the UK to impose stronger sanctions on Russia.
They also called on the City of Manchester to break ties with Russia, urging an end to its twinning with St Petersburg.
Bohdan Ratycz, one of the organisers from the Manchester Ukrainian community and director of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, told the Manchester Evening News the past few days have been 'extremely difficult'.
"On the invasion night I was in shock," he said.
"Even though we had heard about it in the news, when it happens you just don't believe your eyes.
"Our hearts go out to our families - whether they will survive or not survive.
"Although Putin may have his troops on the ground in Ukraine, he will never, ever win the hearts and the minds of Ukrainians.
"Ukraine will rise again. It has done it in the past, it will do it in the future."
The gathering at Piccadilly was the largest held in Greater Manchester to support Ukraine today, but it was not the only one.
Another demonstration took place on the steps of Bolton Town Hall from midday, where flags and signs were also waved in support of Ukraine.
One of the speakers at the demonstration, Father Francis Marsden, told the M.E.N. : "You don't know what's going to happen, there's families that are quite exposed on the 12th floor of apartment buildings and you just wonder what's going to happen if a rocket strike begins.
"A family I know in Kyiv has gone out to the village about 60 miles away, I pray that the Ukrainians will have the resources they need, they've got the courage and bravery."
In Bury, a gathering formed as the town raised the Ukrainian flag to show solidarity.
