As Russia Invades Their Homeland, Ukrainian Village Community Unites For Prayer And Support; 'I'm Crying All Morning'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As Chicago's Ukrainian community learns more about Russia's invasion of their homeland, many are coming together for prayer and to support each other.
CBS 2's Mugo Odigwe reports a lot of people in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood in Chicago are connected to Ukraine in one way or another; whether they were born there and moved to the U.S., or if they have relatives and friends who still live there.
Iana Lychak moved to Chicago from Ukraine just three months ago with her parents, but her grandparents and friends are still in Ukraine.
"I'm feeling so bad. I'm scared, because my friend go on to war today in the morning. So I'm crying all morning," she said.
Jaroslawa Abramiuk, manager of the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Chicago, said a lot of people in the neighborhood probably didn't sleep last night as Russia was invading Ukraine.
"We were all watching TV as this war – and it is a war, even if it's only on one country," he said.
Thursday morning, students from St. Nicholas Cathedral School in Ukrainian Village walked to the church for prayer. School representatives said the church typically has mass on Thursday mornings, but on this day, many students and others from the community wanted to join to say a prayer for Ukraine.
Eighth grader Paul Skomoroch said it's been very difficult taking in some of the images coming in from Ukraine.
"I was at home watching the news, and I was shocked that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would actually do this. I thought that it would only be something he was going to scare the world about," he said. "I know that many places have now been bombed, and everything like that, but I just want it to all stop."
"This world needs peace, we don't need fighting," he added.
Peace is a word you'd hear many in this community say. They just want to live and exist in peace.
Meanwhile, a rally is planned for 1 p.m. Thursday at Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church.
