DENVER — Across Ukraine, and in places like Kyiv, the country’s capital, residents rushed to stock up on supplies like gas and groceries and many began evacuating to the west as the Russian military invaded the country.
By Thursday afternoon, Russian military forces launched attacks in more than a dozen locations across Ukraine. Crowds of people gathered in places like underground subway stations to take shelter from the strikes.
Nearly 6,000 miles away, in Denver, Coloradans rallied at the State Capitol in solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
People held signs with messages like “Stop Russian Aggression” and “Putin! Hands off Ukraine.”
"I am just happy that there is a community of people here, a community of Ukrainians here," said Lana Fenkanyn, who was at the rally. " We are gathering together here because we are all feeling this pain, this hurt. And we are strong; we are prideful. And we will never back down."
Fenkanyn's family is in Kharkiv, Ukraine, one of the first cities impacted by the Russian invasion. "They are currently hiding in a basement, waiting, trying to see when it's safe to get out," she said. "All they can do right now is hide."
Oksana Motsiuk, who was holding a Ukrainian flag at the protest, said she was about to go to bed last night when she got a phone call from her relatives in Ukraine that a "war just started." Motsiuk has a lot of nieces and nephews in Ukraine. "They're hiding somewhere," she said. "We didn't sleep [the] whole night."
Motsiuk said she would like to see decisive action from Ukraine's allies, not just messages of support and sanctions. She said those don't work. "We want the government and the United States to hear us and to help us, to help our country to survive," she said.
Some people who immigrated from Russia to Colorado were at the protest, including Uri Lamaov. He moved to Colorado 22 years ago.
"What happens to dictators who stay in power too long [is] they get crazy ideas and nobody can stop them anymore," Lamaov said of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He added that the invasion of Ukraine will be bad for both Ukraine and Russia.