BUFFALO, N.Y. — Maria Podebryi was 14 and didn't speak any English when she started a whole new life in Buffalo back in 1991.
"We moved because my parents were threatened, because they were a part of the Ukrainian resistance against that time, the Soviet regime," she said.
It wasn't long after her family left Ukraine that the country became a sovereign nation. It has remained that way for more than 30 years.
"A nation that just wants to be raising their kids and living their life," Podebryi said.
But those Ukrainians who just want to live their lives, like Podebryi's extended family, are now being threatened with a potential Russian invasion.
"They are just preparing for the worst," she said.
It's all because Russian President Vladimir Putin sent about 100,000 troops to part of the Russia-Ukraine border in December.
Russia wants the guarantee that Ukraine will never become a part of NATO.
"It's extreme anxiety essentially," Podebryi said.
Buffalo native Andrew Kulyk can relate.
"Worried. Apprehensive. I have an entire village of first and second cousins," Kulyk said. "And (Ukrainians) don't want war."
Russia last invaded Ukraine in 2014 and has been at war since in two regions. Many have been displaced and more than 14,000 killed.
"This incursion coming up now is a much greater threat, and potentially they would like to take control of the entire country," said Yuri Hreshchyshyn, president of the Buffalo Chapter of the Ukrainians Congress for America.
"Some of my family and many of my friends have enlisted."
President Joe Biden put 8,500 troops on "heightened alert" this week and has even told Americans in Ukraine to leave.
Ukrainians have a different attitude.
"Pretty much the attitude is 'not this time. You come onto our soil, there will be a price to pay,' " Kulyk said.
Russia has denied having any plans to invade its ex-Soviet neighbor. Still, that doesn't stop the worry.
"I am an American, and I love, absolutely love, this country, and I am grateful to it. But part of my heart is still there, and I feel so scared for them," Podebryi said. "I'm very afraid my family will suffer, that they will die."
If you would like to help out children in Ukraine right now, you can bring school supplies and textbooks to 205 Military Road or the Buffalo Ukrainian Cultural Center.
You can also call (716) 238-1731.