ATLANTA — For the second Saturday in a row, protesters joined together at Centennial Olympic Park asking for their message to be heard. Some were holding signs, others waving flags, most wearing yellow and blue-- all with one goal: to get help for Ukraine.
“Thousands of people now are hiding there in Ukraine in their basement, in their houses,” said Mila Zaphliak, rally organizer and founder of the group.
She says they got a call this morning from her husband’s family in Ukraine to tell them goodbye.
“There is no way they can leave and they have no electricity, their phones are dying so they called to say once their phones are dead it might be the last thing we hear from them,” said Zaphliak.
Juliana Momotok was at the rally with her parents and younger siblings in support of her cousins in Ukraine.
"They’re saying they have sirens all time and it's really scary," she said. "They’re witnessing really strong things so it's important for us to be here.”
The rally specifically asked for NATO and the United States to step up and step in.
“We ask NATO and (the) American government to close the sky to prevent any bombs from hitting those plants from hitting our parents' houses,” said Zaphliak, stressing it is not a local conflict.
“If one of the power plants is hit by one of those missiles, half of Europe would be destroyed," she said. "There is no way the U.S. can avoid being in a war right now because there is already war on Ukrainian territory but a war with U.S."
Putin has promised to allow safe passage for Ukrainian citizens evacuating the country, but Zaphliak said she is not surprised by his words nor his continued assault on the country.
“I wouldn't believe anything Russia is saying right now,” Zaphliak said.