WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Feb. 24, 2023, is a sad day for Ukrainians worldwide, as it marks one year since the Russian invasion began.
"Today is a terrible day because it's the same day all Ukrainians woke up terrified and like life is done," said Dmytro Bozhko, who is Ukrainian and helped organize a rally in downtown West Palm Beach. "In terms of emotions, anger, fear, it is still there for sure."
The event was filled with posters, each with a message of why Ukraine must win the war, fundraising items and a petition for more help in Ukraine.
"We left everything one year ago, and I miss my home. I miss everything we left everything, my photos," said Iryna Ivanovska, who said she fled Ukraine with her children six months ago, mainly packing Ukrainian books for her kids to read.
"It was difficult at the beginning because everything is very different," said Ivanovska. "It's very different from Ukraine. A lot of people help us. It's very supportive."
She said she left behind her parents and the rest of her family and is now staying with her sister, Olena Chokaa, in Palm Beach County.
"They don't have driver's licenses. They don't have Social Security. A million things that they don't have, but they have to work," said Chokaa. "They have to do something. The kids have to go to school."
The rally is one of the hundreds happening throughout us calling on leaders to continue the supporting Ukraine overseas in what they call a fight for democracy.
"Since the first day of the war, the first thing I do when I wake up every morning, I call them to hear they are OK. I'm still doing that today," said Ukrainian Yuliia Dryhyvka, with family still in Ukraine.
She said she moved to the U.S. in 2015 for work and that the war has significantly damaged infrastructure in Ukraine, leaving many without power and water.
"Even now, I'm hopeful that this year the war will end, and Ukraine will win and defeat the enemy," said Dryhyvka. "What world do we want our kids, children, and grandchildren to live in? We want them to live in a secure safe war."
Organizers also had petitions for people to sign, calling for Russia to be removed from the United Nations.