Parishioners of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church on the East Side of Bridgeport were gathering Thursday to pray after Russia launched an invasion on their home country.

Father Ivan Mazuryk came to the U.S. from Ukraine in 1994 to serve America's substantial Ukrainian population in the Northeast.

Parishioners Walter and Christina Kowinko joined Father Mazuryk in prayer Thursday.

The couple traveled to Ukraine in 2000 to adopt their son Alexander, who is now a cardiac nurse at St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport.

All of them have close loved ones in Ukraine and are calling at the least for a commitment of U.N. troops to the region. It's their hope that North American and European allies will intervene with boots on the ground.