'We will die for our freedom' : Ukrainian father prays for family's safety, urges U.S. intervention

Ukrainian father prays for family's safety, urges U.S. intervention

Yevhen Semekhin's family is trying to escape the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and meet in Western Ukraine, but so are many other frightened Ukrainians.

PHILADELPHIA - While the sovereign and free democratic country of Ukraine now faces an invasion from a world superpower, a Ukrainian father is praying for the safety of his daughter and mother.

"My daughter, my little daughter in Kyiv is with her mom, they spent all the day in the subway in the underground because there was alarm sounds all day," Yevhen Semekhin said.

Semekhin’s family is trying to escape the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and meet in Western Ukraine, but so are many other frightened Ukrainians.

"They are in their car but there are a lot of cars in Kyiv. There is no gasoline at gas stations people with money go to the gas stations. There is no bread in our supermarkets. I want to buy bread, but I can’t do it because people, it’s panic," Semekhin said.

Putin announces military operation in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in Ukraine and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to "consequences they have never seen."

Just after 5:00 a.m. local time, missile and artillery attacks bombarded key Ukrainian military points of interest.

"Putin, like Adolf Hitler, has a plan. Ukraine is only just one, first step. Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and other countries will be second third and fourth," Semekhin said.

He believes the United States must help, or the hope for a democratic and free Europe will die, along with Ukrainian independence.

"If the United States of America wants to be a leader in this world, if they want to save democracy in the world, they must help Ukraine," Semekhin said. "If Russia will eat Ukraine the US will lose number one in the world, after Afghanistan, Ukraine would be strike number two.".