East Village Ukrainian community mobilizing as fighting continues in Kiev

The violent clashes in Kiev — where the death toll reached 75 today, according to Reuters — have mobilized the Ukrainian community in the East Village.

Per amNY:

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, located in the East Village, announced a protest in front of the Consulate General of Ukraine, 240 W. 49th St., at 2 p.m. Sunday, with a march to the Russian Embassy.

"Everyone is extremely worried and concerned. Things seem to be escalating so fast — on a minute by minute basis," said Elizabeth Szonyi Donovan, UCCA Assistant Director. Local Ukrainians, she said, are glued to coverage of Kiev on the news and via social media

Father Bernard Panczuk, pastor for the East Village's St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church, where about "3,000 souls" worship, announced that he would hold a "requiem memorial service following the Sunday's noon liturgy for those who have been killed in Maidan," the city plaza where riot police have clashed violently with protestors.

At the Daily News, Denis Hamill talked with Irene Bracero, St. George's secretary.

"My phone doesn’t stop," she says. "Calls from my father, who is 74. My grandmother. My two sisters text me all night. Things are so bad in Ukraine. All we want is peace."

She stands. She paces. She checks her phone. She sits. She drops her head in her hands.