NORTH PORT, Fla. — Leaders of the United States are working with allied nations to get Russia to pull back on amassing troops and firepower at Ukraine's borders.
On Friday, President Joe Biden said he was “convinced” Russian President Vladimir Putin has made up his mind to invade Ukraine. Biden made the statement about the possible invasion in a speech from the White House.
Tensions continue to mount along Ukraine's militarized border where attacks that have been tagged as “false-flag” operations in order to create a pretext for invasion have become the order of the day, according to leaders of western nations. Vice President Kamala Harris has also been meeting with allies on these developments.
Despite having claimed they were withdrawing, Russia has amassed more than 150,000 troops along its border with neighboring Ukraine.
As the drum beats of war get louder overseas, Ukrainian-Americans in our area are feeling the impact and are worried for family members there. A local non-profit has also started preparations to help with evacuations if and when needed.
"If Russia attacks Ukraine, there's nothing that says that they will not continue to go across Ukraine's borders into other sovereign nations," Ihor Heron of North Port said. Heron is a Ukrainian-American who's lived in North Port for 20 years.
More than 10,000 Ukrainian-Americans like him, who live in the Suncoast and Tampa Bay Area are deeply concerned about Russia's aggression toward their homeland. Some said they even have relatives in Ukraine's military who were already facing hostilities on the eastern frontiers where an armed conflict has gone on for years.
"It's always very nerve-racking to know, day-to-day, what's happening at the front with the shelling that's going on," Orest Bilous said. He was one of the leaders of the Ukrainian-American community who attend St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church in North Port.
President Biden says Putin is posturing the military for an imminent attack after surrounding Ukraine with troops and artillery including the navy.
He said he has “reason to believe” it could occur within the “coming days” and will include an assault on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.
"There is no such thing as the Ukrainian Navy. Russia is posted right off the port. They don't really have a good answer for that so they're going to wait until those troops come on land and the next step is anyone's guess," said Bryan Stern, founder of Project Dynamo.
Tampa-based Project Dynamo, which played a key role in evacuating Americans from Afghanistan after the abrupt U.S. withdrawal of troops, is planning to do the same in Ukraine if things escalate. He said because there is a lot that's required when planning and executing evacuations, his team has to anticipate it months ahead.
"Ground transportation. You need safety teams, you need buses, you need vaccines, you need a way out. With dynamo, we will only transport people safely and legally," Stern said.
He said people who live in places that are under immediate threat in Ukraine or have relatives in those places also need to plan ahead.
"If you think that they're going to need to be evacuated, they should go, they should go. I can't rescue the entire world. On our website, we have a Ukrainian button. Register and if we can move you and it's terrible we will, we will do our best," he said.
As the world watches to see if diplomatic talks would shift some ground in favor of Ukraine and allied nations, parishioners have scheduled mass and vigils at St. Mary's. For now, their only hope is to pray while everyone awaits Putin's next play.
"This is not a Ukrainian problem, this is a world problem, this is a European problem and this is a US problem as well," Bilous said.
Stern said Project Dynamo's evacuation efforts rely on donations from sponsors, well-wishers and members of the public. Click here if you would like to.