By Costas Pitas

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Ukrainians living in America are sending money and making donations to their relatives. They also discuss how to get loved ones out of a war zone.

Nearly 1 million Americans are Ukrainian-American. There are many communities scattered throughout the country.

Los Angeles has a diaspora that includes Orthodox and Catholic churches as well as delicatessen, culture centers, and businesses owned and operated by Ukrainians and their descendants.

Oryssia PROCOPOVych (57), a Ukrainian national, was holding a flag in Ukraine and dressed in a sweatband with clothes in blue and yellow from her home country.

During a demonstration, she stated that “I am sending money for the medical teams in Ukraine to buy essential things for people wounded by recent casualties.”

Her family in West Ukraine did not wish to go, a message that was received by other diaspora Ukrainians Reuters talked with. However, she indicated that this could still be required.

She said that “they are near the Polish border” and was referring to Lviv in Ukraine, which is where American embassy personnel were relocated due to growing concerns about safety in Kyiv.

She stated that “in the worst-case scenario, they could go to Poland. After that we will consider moving them to the States.”

When roads and airports close, traffic is clogging the streets, and cyberattacks have encroached on financial institutions, it can be difficult for people to get out of a country.

Olga Zimakova (31), an aesthetician who was born and raised in Ukraine, said that many of their friends and families remain over there because it’s hard to move. It’s difficult right now to get your money out of the bank.

Others accept their inability fly and look for other ways they can help.

He said that he would send something in the future and help his family.

Family in Russia and Ukraine are reunited by Thursday’s invasion. It brings back painful memories from expulsions that have afflicted peoples of the Soviet Union over many decades.

Andrew stated that the Soviet regime sent his family to Crimea in the 1950s, 1940s. “They’re native Crimeans. My grandmother was married to a Russian gentleman, which means that my mother is half Crimean/half Russian.

Crimea, which belonged to the Soviet empire from the late 1990s until its annexation by Russia in 2014, was under the control of the Ukrainian government.

“SANCTIONS are a joke”

The West put more pressure on Russia after President Vladimir Putin declared two regions within eastern Ukraine independent this week. However, they wanted to prevent an invasion and keep the most severe measures in place.

They should do everything they can. Lily Berg (41), a software engineer said that she attended the protest for only the second time in her adult life.

It won’t be enough if they tighten slowly and inconspicuously.

Biden’s administration announced broad export restrictions and new sanctions against Russia, which will restrict Russia’s global access to goods ranging from electronics for commercial use to aircraft parts and semiconductors.

Los Angeles Ukrainians saw the largest attack against a European country since World War Two. They compared it with Adolf Hitler’s invasions of the continent.

Ivan Galt 26, 26, who has worked in an appliance repair company and is currently living in the United States, stated that “Sanctions are a joke by Putin.” “He had declared war to the whole world. You can’t stop Hitler by merely blocking his banks.

“We require large military support. Our country needs guns.