With more than 100,000 Russian troops massing near the border of Ukraine, Ukrainian Americans are finding ways to support their homeland.

“The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, including the Syracuse branch, we represent over two million people, two million Ukrainians,” said Lida Buniak, president of the committee's Syracuse branch.

Local chapters across the country are raising awareness throughout their communities, and the committee is staying in the ears of key players in Washington.

“This would include imposing sanctions as quickly as possible, making sure they continue, which they have been doing wonderfully, and the United States and NATO allies to bring additional weaponry to bolster our defense in the case of a possible invasion,” said Buniak.

She said the history of Ukraine is about the battle to remain sovereign, and called the Ukrainian people resilient fighters.

When Russia invaded Ukraine’s Crimean region in March 2014, it was heartbreaking for her.

“For me, that’s a very personal situation because my mother’s family is from Crimea, and now we are basically cut off from that peninsula,” Buniak said.

Mark Temnycky is a non-resident fellow with the Atlantic Counsel Eurasia Center, reporting on the ongoing issues between Ukraine and Russia.

He said it’s not clear what Russia is planning, but the democratic shift in Ukrainian governance remains a big threat.

“It will show that other countries in the region can abandon their authoritarian past and have greater prosperity, etcetera,” Temnycky said. “It doesn’t mean they have to join western institutions, but with democracy brings greater standards of living, health care, education.”

"We believe the culture of Ukraine must survive and can’t be submerged under Russian culture,” said Patricia Burak. 

She said Ukrainians in the U.S. will provide their support by sharing their voices.

“I think we are comfortable Americans should be able to help and defend the freedom of Ukraine," Burak said. "The motherland, we call it.”