ST. LOUIS — Our 5 on Your Side team attended a demonstration Sunday afternoon that turned heads and pulled on heartstrings as people in St. Louis shared their connection to the conflict in Ukraine.
People in the city are showing they support Ukraine in this conflict. The rally is especially meaningful for St. Louisans who have family and friends still there in the midst of the Russian invasion.
The crowd could be heard chanting "Stop the war" from the steps of the old courthouse in Downtown St. Louis.
Svetlana Murashkin is from Kharkiv, Ukraine. She’s been living in America for 20 years. Her heart broke for her family when she heard the news of the Russian invasion.
“My mom and dad are there," she said. "They’re 88 and 91. They are not mobile. They cannot move. They cannot be evacuated.”
Svetlana adds, “We call them three or four times a day. Just making sure they’re there… making sure they’re alive… making sure they have power and water.”
She tells our reporter, “I see many people everyday and when they ask me questions about my mom and dad, they say ‘Are they safe’? I tell them, ‘No one is safe'."
Others at the rally shared the same worry. Oksana Greenburg is from Kyiv and has family fighting in the Ukrainian forces.
“We just need all of the world united because this tyranny should be stopped," she said. "It should be impossible in the 21st century to see this destruction. I think if everyone just united — and not ignore this and think ‘Oh, it’s fine. It’s too far from us.' Because it can be in every part of the world now if the Putin regime still exists.”
These demonstrators want you to know there are ways you can help from anywhere in the world.
We spoke with Tatiana Bihun, another Ukrainian demonstrator who was born in America.
“I think the biggest question is ‘What can we do?’" she said. "We are taking donations, sending medical supplies back home, sending military equipment back home. But the most important thing you can do doesn’t take any money, it just takes a little bit of your time. So, if you can talk to your local political representatives and tell them you want our skies to be secure and you want our families to be safe — they need our support.”