Bend woman prays missiles don’t reach her family, organizes efforts to help Ukraine

'It’s been five days since our lives changed so much,' Ukraine resident Olena Zhygylevych says

(Update: Adding video, comments by Ukrainian-American Bend resident Sasha Spektor, her aunt, Olena Zhygylevych)

BEND, Ore., (KTVZ) -- Sasha Spektor is organizing efforts to help the people of Ukraine, including her aunt, uncle and grandfather, all lacking major resources in the city of Kyiv.

The Ukrainian-American woman lives in Bend. Her parents are Jewish refugees who came to the U.S. from Ukraine in 1991.

Her new mission is to send resources to Ukraine, as the war-torn country battles a Russian invasion and thousands of refugees flee to safety.

“The easiest way to help is to donate money," Spektor said. "But if you can’t donate money and you do have donations available, we’re looking (for) warm jackets, sweaters, thermals, blankets, and food."

Additionally, she said, for those making non-monetary donations, non-perishable foods, toiletries and over-the-counter medications would be helpful.

When asking Spektor how she's handling everything, she said she's experiencing a spectrum of emotions, but mostly anxiety and guilt. It’s hard for her to sit and enjoy meals, when she knows her family and other Ukrainians are suffering, and rapidly running out of resources.

Her grandfather and uncle have sought shelter from airstrikes in an underground parking structure. As so many Ukrainians are displaced, with no consistent pipeline of aid, Spektor said they have little to nothing to work with.

"Now knowing that my grandfather is sleeping on the floor of a parking garage and basically just eating bread and drinking milk, because that’s all he can get his hands on," Spektor trailed off.

Spektor's aunt, Olena Zhygylevych, lives in west Kyiv and is helping to care for the elderly, the sick, and animals left behind. She said several people have fled her apartment building, and she is one of the four people left.

"We heard blasts, not far from us," Zhygylevych told NewsChannel 21. "All their village, several villages around them -- totally demolished, ash."

Which leaves virtually no resources left. Zhygylevchy said they now have a curfew and must be in their homes by 8 p.m. When they can go to the grocery store in daylight hours, the line wraps around the building -- and by the time it's their turn, the shelves are empty.

It's just one of many hardships those still living there now face.

“Banks are closed," Spektor said. "They're able to go to ATMs, but most of the ATMs don’t have cash in them any more.”

"The hospital closed all the departments," Zhygylevych said. "And they asked relatives to take all the ill people out of hospital.”

With the air space under Russian control, Spektor is getting the help of a family friend who is a Jewish refugee living in Vienna, Austria, to deliver items to the Polish-Ukrainian border, and then into the embattled Ukrainian capital.

She has a GoFundMe page with more details about her efforts.

Spektor said she will post photos showing Ukrainians receiving the resources from the donations she's been receiving. As of Wednesday, she's raised $10,000.

"I never could have imagined this -- never," Zhygylevych said, sighing heavily, recounting the panic, fear and crying children she's seen within the last five days.

Though she’s afraid, she said the need to stay and help is greater.

"I have my mantra: 'Clear skies all over the Earth,’ she sang. "It’s too beautiful to be in war.”

She left the Facebook Messenger video call with NewsChannel 21 asking one lingering question:

“How come it comes to killing each other, instead of sitting down and talking? Instead of reaching a mutual agreement?"