Hundreds of demonstrators assembled outside the White House on Sunday to express support for Ukraine amid attacks from Russian forces.
Oksana Markarova, Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., said there was "no other place" she could be in this moment. Hundreds of Ukrainian flags were flown by demonstrators, who were singing and chanting their support for the bombarded eastern European nation.
"We're not ready to give up our dreams of freedom and we're not ready to surrender," Markarova said. "I don't have anything to say for Mr. Putin, but to the Russian people -- you know, this is time for the Russian people, if they don't want to be accomplices to these war crimes, to stand up and say it, because otherwise they are as guilty as their leadership who ordered and executed this brutal attack and started war in the 21st century in the middle of Europe."
Misha Kashlev, a Russian man who attended the rally with his wife, said those around Russian President Vladimir Putin need to act to stop the leader from causing more harm.
"I think you have a last chance now to take some action to stop this because your leader cannot," Kashlev said. "He is incapable of doing anything but trying to kill the entire world. So please, stop it. Stop your leader from taking some irreversible action."
A Ukrainian woman, Oksana Chuchvara, cried as she spoke of her sister, who is hiding in a basement shelter without supplies, as well as the children who are dying in Ukraine amid the violence.
Chuchvara fears Putin cannot be stopped, describing him as “the devil.”
"It's very sad,” she said. “It's like, like Hitler or something.”
Markarova later expressed the sentiment of the crowd, saying, “Just pray for Ukraine and support us."
-ABC News’ Kelly Livingston