As solidarity and support for Ukraine erupts across the world, seamstress Becky Nash made a Ukrainian flag out of quilting material and erected it on the snow mound on the corner of Third Avenue and Main Street and school students spoke with Kyiv residents living in a bomb shelter.

Shannon McPhetres facilitated a Zoom video call between Haines School students this week and women living in a Kyiv bomb shelter.

McPhetres participated in a college exchange program in Ukraine in the early 1990s and she’s kept in touch with the friends she’s made ever since. In 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea she sent care packages to her Ukrainian friends. Since the invasion she’s stayed up late into the night and early morning checking in with them. Two of her friends live near a town that Russian forces bombed Tuesday night. Kyiv residents Irina and daughter Veronica are hoping to flee the country as soon as tomorrow.

“Theyre’ trying to get them out of the bomb shelter there in Kyiv, get them out of country,” McPhetres said.

Maddox Rogers and his classmates spoke with Irina and Veronica on Zoom. He said talking to people affected by Russia’s invasion put the situation in a new light.

“I’ve been really scared throughout this whole situation. It’s horrific on a global scale, but seeing that on a personal level, that just (gives me) a whole new perspective,” Rogers said.

McPhetres said her Ukrainian friends want the world to know that to them the Russian attack feels more like genocide than a war and “that the situation is deteriorating as we speak.” The United Nations reported 227 civilian deaths and 525 injured as of March 1, but also cautioned that those numbers are likely low. On Wednesday, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into allegations of war crimes and genocide committed in Ukraine, according to New York Times reporting.

“They feel lost and forgotten. They recognize the position the U.S. is in,” McPhetres said. “They’re just defending themselves. They need support.”

McPhetres said anyone wanting to contribute should consider “Grace to Ukraine,” an Alabama-based humanitarian organization that is currently accepting donations to assist women and children fleeing the country.

Nash said she made and erected the Ukrainian flag on the snow mound from a sense of duty to help.

“I have to do stuff. I just can’t sit here,” Nash said. “I gave little flags for people at church to pin on their shirts. (Ukrainians) need to know there’s a lot of people around the world rooting for them, praying for them.”

She made the flag and painted “Pray for Ukraine” on cardboard on Saturday.

“It’s to remind people to think about them and pray for them,” Nash said. “It could be any of us.”

Two additional flags were set up next to Nash’s on Tuesday. Nash said she didn’t put those up, and that it’s “heartwarming to see the support.”

Citizens from countries and cities around the world including Tokyo, Boston, Nairobi Moscow, Tehran, Mexico City and New Delhi are protesting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began last week.