This year started out great for one Ukrainian couple. After four years of separation, Oleksadra Levchenko finally received her green card and joined her husband Adrii Panchenko in Colorado in January.

But joy turned to guilt and anxiety last week as they watched Russia invade their home country. On Tuesday, Adrii’s best friend, 33-year-old Serhiy Salivon, was killed by a Russian tank missile.

“He was a civilian and he was trying to drive to a safe place,” Panchenko said.

Salivon’s niece and her husband also died in the attack. Panchenko has a photo of Salivon’s mangled vehicle in his phone.

On Wednesday afternoon, the young couple stood in front of the Capitol holding signs and chanting “Close the skies over Ukraine,” along with two dozen other demonstrators.

“We don’t feel we have the right to cry,” said Levchenko, 27. “I’m in a safe place, the skies are blue, but I’m scared for my parents and friends.”

Inna Beligev, who is in her 50s, wants to go to Ukraine and fight, but her passport has expired. “Well, why not? Everyone is afraid,” said Beligev.

Her daughter, Elena Muslow, dressed in a traditional peasant blouse, waved a “Stand With Ukraine” sign.

“Every day war is getting stronger and stronger. I want people to do something about Putin. They’ve shut the TV down,” Muslow said.

Beligev and Muslow are the only two people from their family in the U.S. and as long as the internet holds out, they plan on keeping in touch with them. “We talk 10 times a day,” said Beligev.

Ukrainians living in Colorado are exhausted but too anxious to sleep as Russia’s assault on their home country escalates going into the second week of war.

“I’m sick all week. I have so much stress, I think I’ll need to see a doctor,” said 90-year-old Dosia Fedak as she left 10 a.m. Mass at Sunnyside Denver’s Transfiguration of Our Lord Ukrainian Catholic Church on Wednesday.

A small group of people prayed for peace in Ukraine in the tidy chapel and then gathered among long wooden pews to trade stories they’ve heard from families back home. Though a reporter couldn’t understand the Ukrainian being spoken, the word “Russki” was mentioned several times.

“I’m trying to watch less television because it’s just too much to bear, what they are doing,” said Fedak.

Fedak is watching war with Russia unfold for the second time in her life. The first occurred when her family fled the Russians in 1939 at the start of World War II. At that time, her family lived in a place called Galicia, which was then Poland, but is now considered a region of Western Ukraine. After 10 years of running, Fedak and her parents ended up in the United States. She was 17 years old.

“I got my first job at a five-and-dime making 67 cents an hour,” said Fedak. She stood ram-rod straight in a jeans jacket as she got in her KIA to drive home.

There are 17,145 Ukrainian immigrants living in Colorado, according to an analysis of U.S. census data done by the Center for Demographic and Socio-Economic Research of Ukrainians in the United States. It’s a number that grew by 54% since 2000 when there were just over 11,000.

In the last week, Coloradans have seen Ukrainians come out in force to demonstrate against the war as their country sits on the precipice of destruction thousands of miles away. A nonprofit called Ukrainians of Colorado, which has been around since 2014, has a new focus. Its mission is now to “strengthen the Ukrainian community of Colorado,” arranging rallies throughout the Front Range, calling for immigration lawyers, psychologists, media relations and financial assistance. A new website designed to collect donations went up overnight.

“This used to be a couple of volunteers doing what they need to do with no time pressure. Now there’s an urgent need. How do we put in the organizational infrastructure and ramp up our capacity?” said Andrew Lenec, who volunteered in Ukraine with the Peace Corps and is a first generation Ukrainian-American.

The funding is tricky, as is explained on the group’s Facebook page.

“Since Ukrainians of Colorado is nonprofit organization, according to IRS code we can’t help individuals outside of USA. We can help nonprofit organizations only. On individual level, we are all helping our families and friends in Ukraine directly,” Lenec said.

Project C.U.R.E. is working with Ukrainians of Colorado to help ship medical supplies to the war-torn country. One such effort was started Tuesday by an accounting student at Regis University.

Olivier Sokolowski told The Denver Gazette the soft supplies will be sent to Poland and then taken by truck to wounded Ukrainians. “I’ve seen the injuries on Instagram and they are bloody and horrible,” said Sokolowsky. “Raw footage is coming in by the minute.”

The group needs tourniquets, Israeli bandages, splints, infusion drip systems and burn dressings of all sizes.

Lenec said his phone has been flooded with calls from people who want to help. And support is pouring in everywhere he goes.

“My wife and I went to lunch today and I was wearing my Ukrainian shirt and the waitress started crying,” said Lenec. “It’s a heart-wrenching and heartbreaking affront to the entire world.”