SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Dozens of people stood shoulder to shoulder with flags and signs in hand on Tuesday to turn eyes to what’s happening in Ukraine -- more specifically, a major dam collapse in the southern part of the country.
“It’s a largest ecologic disaster and humanitarian disaster and we’re all freaking out. Don’t really know what’s going to happen. Over 80 villages and town are being flooded as we speak; people being evacuated,” said Mira Ruben, the president of San Diego-based House of Ukraine.
Ruben and others are hoping their presence along with the standard and massive flags above Interstate 5 in La Jolla will bring more eyes to the situation.
It is a situation Anna Borysyuk said that’s hitting close to her home. She grew up in a community about an hour away from the collapsed dam and has been in touch with friends and colleagues who still live there.
Borysyuk told ABC 10News that she spent her childhood there and the dam is “giant” and like a 10-story building.
She also said that right down the stream there are one-story buildings where people have been hiding from the bombs in bomb shelters and now everything is swimming. Borysyuk added that it’s intolerable pain. She told ABC 10News she’s thanking God her family left that area.
As sounds of horns honked in support come from those passing by the rally, Ruben hopes people don’t pass by or forget their ongoing struggles.
“Ukraine has been disappearing, you know, of peoples’ minds. People start forgetting there’s a war,” Ruben said. “We’re here to remind everyone that this is a fact, and we need help. Ukraine needs help.”
Borysyuk said, “We’re only surviving on the faith right now.”
