ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Comfort came from the pulpit Tuesday, as St. Petersburg's Ukrainian community gathered to pray, sing and send love to their country at Epiphany of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church.
"They got their independence in 2014 and to go through this again," cried parishioner Stefan Maryliw.
Through tears, the people that came out told ABC Action News that the current conflict with Russia has left them with a sense of helplessness.
"It's hard to just sit at home and do nothing, we're the kind of people that get involved," said Jennie Maryliw.
But despite this, they also said that they will continue to rely on their faith and on the support of the community for strength.
"We will not give up, we will not give up. Russians will not get our land so easy as they thought. They will not," said Iryna Karavan.
Parishioners at the church are now working to gather supplies to send to Ukraine and Poland. They will be releasing more details on that effort in the next few days. You can find the latest details on the church's website.
