NORTH PORT, Fla. — The Ukrainian American community is staying connected to what's happening overseas while praying for the safety of loved ones who may be in harm's way.
But despite the trauma of watching the past five days of the war, the Sun Coast's Ukrainian American neighbors are sharing their love for their country and their heritage.
One North Port pastor shared about a special flag sent to him a few years ago from the frontlines of the crisis over Ukraine.
"These are signatures. This says 'Slava Ukraini Slava Heroyam. Glory to Ukraine, glory to heroes of Ukraine,'" said Pastor Avdiy Chripczuk of the Ukrainian Baptist Church.
Since Russia's attack on Ukraine began last week, Chripczuk now carries the cherished flag with him in his car. He keeps it close by to take it to rallies in the area or gatherings where fellow Ukrainian Americans are expressing their feelings about the invasion.
"The color of the flag, the light blue represents the sky and yellow represents the Ukrainian fields of wheat because Ukraine was known for centuries as the breadbasket of Europe," Chripczuk said.
The flag which featured more than 30 signatures, written in black felt, is not only special to Chripczuk, but the Ukrainian American community.
In February 2019, Ukrainian volunteer soldiers fighting in the Avdiivka, a small town near the Donbas region, not far from Donestk, filled it with their signatures.
Then in 2020, a group of Ukrainian Army Chaplains brought it to North Port's Ukrainian Baptist Church as a way of saying thank you to the congregation for sending relief items and funds to help the soldiers.
They gave it to Chripczuk to be its custodian because the pastor also shares the same name with the small town.
"From one battalion, I don't know how big the group is but you can see some of the signatures are washed off. They were probably, in this group, about 30 to 50 people," he said.
As ongoing military engagement intensifies in the contested eastern region, Chripczuk is worried many of the soldiers whose signatures adorn the flag could have become casualties of the war.
"It's hard to express. They have families, they have wives, children, mothers they've lost their sons and their daughters," said a tearful Chripczuk.
The United Nations said Russia's invasion of Ukraine has killed more than 100 civilians including 7 children. The UN also said that more than 500,000 people have fled to neighboring countries to seek refuge.
"Bridges airplanes buildings, they can be replaced, but life, you cannot bring back and that's a big most expensive," Chripczuk said.
Chripczuk said since the recent round of Russian aggression, whenever he looks at the flags and studies the signatures, he prays for the soldiers who are standing their ground in the battle. He said the flag brings him a renewed sense of pride.
"In Spanish, we say, 'victory or die' so that represents something very close and it's very touching," he said.
The Ukrainian Baptist Church along with St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church is part of a wider effort to galvanize donations to help with relief materials for both soldiers and fleeing families.