'We hope the world will hear us': Austin Ukrainian community, supporters protest Russian attack

Polina Shabarova, 35, closely monitored the news late Wednesday and early Thursday as Russian troops launched attacks across Ukraine.

Thinking of every member of her family and her close friends who could be in danger — some are in Kyiv or Dnipro and others in rural central Ukraine — her voice started to break.

"I'm heartbroken," said Shabarova, who is originally from Crimea, a peninsula on the southern Ukrainian coast along the Black Sea that was annexed by Russia in 2014. She has been living and working in Austin for the past five years. "No one expected it to really happen, and at such scale and in the 21st century, in the middle of Europe. It's just crazy," she said of the invasion.

Shabarova and others in the nearly 1,000-member Austin TX Ukrainians Facebook Group organized a rally at the Texas Capitol on Thursday to protest the Russian attacks. At least 100 Austin Ukrainians and their supporters attended.

What we know: Why is Russia invading Ukraine? Could it be the start of WWIII?

According to reports by USA TODAY, Russian forces began a military operation in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday night, which was a few hours before dawn in Ukraine.

Explosions were heard in major cities, including Kharkiv and Odessa, and in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Russians show solidarity

Among the demonstrators Thursday in Austin were several Russians who embraced their Ukrainian friends at the event.

In tears, Kristina Gasenko, 29, said her friends and relatives in Russia are also hearing planes and bombs. She's especially worried about her Ukrainian friends, she said.

Gasenko is originally from Russia and has been living in Austin for about two years.

"It's awful. I have friends who are hiding in Ukraine, in the metro area; they are underground," Gasenko said. "We couldn't keep silent. We are Russian, but we don't want war. We don't support (Russian President Vladimir) Putin."

Putin claims the objective of the attack is to defend the Russian speakers in Ukraine, especially those in the two self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which broke away from Ukrainian control in 2014. But Ukraine has denied Moscow’s claims that the Kyiv government is forcibly trying to take them back, according to reports by USA TODAY.

Ukraine has previously shown interest in joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an intergovernmental military alliance of 28 European countries, Canada and the United States.

Putin said he views the prospect of Ukraine joining the military alliance, born as a Cold War defense pact against the Soviet Union, as a "hostile act."

Live updates: Biden details new Russian sanctions, says 'aggression cannot go unanswered'

Sanctions for invasion

On Thursday, President Joe Biden added economic sanctions against Moscow as part of an international rallying cry to respond to Russia's ongoing assault on Ukraine, USA TODAY reported.

Biden said the new economic measures would "limit Russia's ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen to be part of the global economy."

The U.S. is set to deploy additional forces to Germany to help bolster the NATO alliance. After Biden's remarks Thursday, the Pentagon ordered 7,000 more U.S. troops to Europe.

'Ready to fight'

Demonstrators in downtown Austin on Thursday asked for local, state and federal officials to support Ukrainians and take action.

Maggie Stewart cried as the crowd sang a Ukrainian song outside the Capitol in the middle of a flurry of Ukrainian flags and anti-Russia signs.

"I lived in Ukraine, so I wanted to come out to show my solidarity for the many people I love there," Stewart said. "It doesn't seem like there's much we can do beside pray, call our representatives and show up here."

Mariana Kotenko said her family lives about an hour north of Kyiv and is safer from danger than people in the metropolitan areas of Ukraine.

"But I am very worried about them. They are not sleeping; they are worried because the Russian military is occupying cities as we speak," said Kotenko, who has been living in Austin since 2009. "If it comes to that we need to accept refugees, I want (the U.S. government) to help Ukrainian refugees to travel safely to the U.S. and reunite with their families.

"I am feeling proud of my community. ... We feel stronger than ever," Kotenko said. "We hope that the world will hear us. Everybody here is ready to fight as every single Ukrainian in Ukraine."

Visual journalist Sara Diggins and USA Today contributed to this article.

Austin American-Statesman reporter Natalia Contreras can be reached at 512-626-4036 or ncontreras@statesman.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook, @NataliaECG.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin Ukrainian community gather at Capitol to protest Russian attack