The power of prayer and community was felt by hundreds who gathered at Denver’s Babi Yar Park on Sunday to show solidarity for the people of Ukraine.

Hosted by a variety of city and community organizations, the Interfaith Gathering for Peace in Support of the Ukrainian People was Denver’s response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for global protest against Russia’s invasion of his country.

Retired Rabbi Ray Zwerin, who played a key role in getting Babi Yar Park built, said the park memorializes the 200,000 Jews and Ukrainians killed by the Nazis at the Babi Yar ravine in Kyiv during World War II. The park’s centralized pathways create the shape of the Star of David.

District 4 Councilwoman Kendra Black, whose district calls the park home, said the park is a symbol of unity and standing against oppression, making it the perfect location for Sunday’s gathering.

Zwerin also shared the history of the upcoming Jewish holiday Passover celebrating Jewish freedom from slavery in Egypt, and how its story can translate to the support behind Ukraine today.

“A people who wants freedom and will do what it needs to do to get that freedom cannot be defeated by even the greatest power at the time, and so we hope that the story repeats itself today in Ukraine — that the Pharaoh of today will be defeated by the Moseses and the heroes who respond to the needs,” Zwerin said.

Irina Shatalov, co-president of Ukrainians of Colorado, said the organization is collecting donations and medical supplies to send to support the Ukrainian people, and thanked everyone for their support. She later invited all Ukrainians in attendance at the park to join her in a Ukrainian prayer.

Eugene Shatalov, Irina’s husband, said the family started doing what they could to support Ukraine.

Oleksandra Tkachenko was staying with her mother in Kyiv when Russia initially invaded, and said amid all the sadness and pain, she felt her country growing closer and stronger as she was working her way out. Tkachenko decided to wait it out a bit before trying to leave the city because she said there was so much traffic it was impossible to get anywhere.

Throughout the first few days, Tkachenko stocked up on food and water and closed off windows, prepping the apartment to keep them safe should a bombing come through.

“We were sleeping on the floor in the corridor or in the bathroom or in the bathtub, and if we wanted to cook, one person went to the kitchen to cook fast and then run away,” Tkachenko said.

Tkachenko said her sister convinced her that it wouldn’t be safe to stay in Kyiv, so they went to another area of Ukraine for a few days before Tkachenko and her mother took a train to Poland, leaving her sister behind.

On the train, they had 12 people crammed into a car that typically holds four. Tkachenko said everyone was united and willing to help one another, though, sharing food and medication with those who needed it.

“In terms of spirit, it was absolutely amazing because it was so uniting,” Tkachenko said. “Everybody became your brother and sister.”

Tkachenko said she had never been to Poland because of tensions between Ukraine and Poland, but then she saw Poland become a friend to Ukraine, showing nothing but support. She stayed with some of her husband’s family in Krakow for a few days before she and her mom — who doesn’t speak English — could get on a plane to the U.S. They arrived in Denver on March 6.

Now staying with her husband Ihor Figlus in Wheat Ridge, Tkachenko said having access to technology and information has been essential for her staying up to date with the conflict. While Figlus was born in the U.S., his parents are Ukrainian, and he lived there for 15 years.

Figlus said it’s essential for Americans to continue contacting their representatives in Washington to tell them they want additional support for Ukraine. He said fundraising and making donations however possible is also helpful, whether through Ukrainians of Colorado or the Ukrainian Freedom Fund.

Black said the gathering was touching and that many of the Ukrainians there were moved to see the community’s support.

“Someone said to me today that the event was so special, that we’re all better now than we were two hours ago,” Black said at the end of the event. “… We’re all very different people from all kinds of walks of life and from different countries and different backgrounds, and we all came together because we wanted to support Ukraine, and it was very meaningful.”