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'We need the help': Ukrainian Americans in the Tampa Bay area fear for loved ones overseas

Community members say they've been on the phone all day with loved ones in Ukraine after watching the invasion unfold overnight.

NORTH PORT, Fla. — The Russian invasion of Ukraine is leaving many in the Tampa Bay area with connections to the country heartbroken.

Some Ukrainian Americans said being able to reach their loved ones on the phone, for now, is giving them hope but worry it won't stay that way.

The past 24 hours have been devastating for neighbors like Ihor Rakowsky of St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church in North Port, which has roughly 5,000 Ukrainian Americans living in the area. 

"It was inconceivable to us that something like this could happen," Rakowsky said. "We're still numb. Partly with anger. Partly with sorrow."

Rakowsky said his parents were refugees who settled in the U.S. after World War II. He said in a sense what's happening currently is being repeated again.

Community members at the church came together and created Ukranian delicacies as part of their weekly traditions to fundraise money for the church.

Credit: 10 Tampa Bay

Neighbors said it was important to be with each other after watching videos and images of destruction overnight.

"I cried a lot," Natalia Bobak said. "We need the help. We need the world to stand behind us." 

Several churches across the Bay area held prayer services to cope with the pain throughout the day. 

"It's very hard to comprehend what is happening. That something like that is happening in the 21st century," said Roman Voloshyn of Epiphany of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church in St. Petersburg.

Credit: Roman Voloshyn

Voloshyn said his elderly parents are in Ukraine. He's not just worried about the safety of his relatives overseas but making sure his elderly parents have access to basic supplies like medicine or are able to evacuate if needed.

Mariya Bloom of Englewood also said her elderly mother is still in Ukraine.

"To be honest, I'm still shaken. I did not sleep all night and I'm sick to my stomach until now," Bloom said.

Credit: Mariya Bloom

Olya Czerkas said church members in St. Petersburg were hoping for a peaceful resolution when threats escalated but said she understood Russian President Vladimir Putin was still capable of invading the country. 

"It brought us together unfortunately in a fearful way," said Czerkas, who also serves as president of the local Ukrainian National Women's League of America, Inc. branch.

Czerkas said she hopes what's happening will serve as a history lesson for people following the crisis. Overall, neighbors said the impact in Ukraine will have an effect on the world. 

"It's so important that we all stand together, and that we help one another," Czerkas said.

On Thursday night, more than 100 people went to Epiphany of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church in St. Petersburg to pray.

Viktoriia Hatfield was born and raised in Ukraine but married an American man and now lives in Hillsborough County. 

"It’s actually very close to the Russian border. Probably around 40 miles away," Hatfield explained. Her family is now trying to escape the place she called home. 

To show support for everyone in Ukraine, Hatfield drove to St. Petersburg to pray with her community for her mom, dad, brother and stepfather who still live in Ukraine. 

"They’re heading toward west, as far as possible. That seems to be the safest direction because Russia attacks from three sides - north, south and east. So west is the only direction we can go," Hatfield elaborated.

Hatfield said her family had to wait in long lines to get gas before they could leave her hometown. She said so many people are trying to leave the eastern side of Ukraine that places were limiting the amount of gas people could buy.

Her hometown is experiencing violence and she said things are likely going to get worse. "There’s a military base and it’s actually burning right now. It’s on fire," Hatfield said.

That's why she is praying for safety. "It’s devastating. The fear itself, but also the feeling that you can’t do anything about it because you cannot help people you love. You cannot do anything, so that’s why we’re here. We just want to show we support Ukraine," Hatfield stated.

People who came out to pray said they hope to be a part of another vigil soon. The church is planning to host another prayer vigil on Mar. 2. For more information on when there will be additional prayer vigils, you can check the church's Facebook page.

In Ukraine, a Tampa-based group Project DYNAMO, consisting of former and current military members, said they're in the process of rescuing nearly two dozen Americans.

"They are currently traversing the Ukrainian countryside and trying to make their way to an American embassy in a neighboring country. The evacuation began minutes after our team on the ground physically felt the nearby explosions in Kyiv last night," James Judge, a spokesman for Project DYNAMO, wrote in a statement.

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