Prayers for Ukraine ring out at Sunday Masses across Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Across Philadelphia and Montgomery counties, many Catholic churchgoers said prayers for Ukraine Sunday morning.

Archbishop Nelson Perez asked for peace while leading prayer at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.

"I spoke to my sister this morning, and in the background, I could hear the sirens going on, and especially children are very, very afraid," said Krystyna Szymanski, who is from Poland but now lives in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

She says women and children are fleeing Ukraine to Poland while the men have to stay behind.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is entering its fourth day, and the Ukrainian spirit is as strong as ever, according to Taras Byk, a citizen located in the western outskirts of Kyiv.

Tetyana Yednak is one of those women who left Ukraine through Poland earlier this week.

"I was supposed to fly on Thursday but everything was canceled. We were trying to leave and everything was blocked. I saw the military equipment on the way and it was so scary," said Yednak of Huntingdon Valley.

Yednak had been in Ukraine for the past two weeks for her father's funeral, and she watched the war and attacks unfold in her home country.

Once home, she immediately went to the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Jenkintown to join her community for Mass to pray for her family still in Ukraine.

"With nothing in their hands, they're ready to fight," she said.

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"All Ukraine is on fire right now. We know who's the enemy and we're praying, praying, praying for the people of Ukraine," said Arthur Martynenk from Northeast Philadelphia.