WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Thousands of miles away from the fighting in Ukraine, and under the South Florida sun, many Ukrainian Americans are watching and worrying about their home country.
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In front of the Euro Market on Okeechobee Boulevard near West Palm Beach, two women from the seaside town of Odessa, Ukraine, named Lana and Angela, talked about a difficult day.
"Very upset, I did not sleep all night," Lana said.
"Same thing, it's my family. Two sons, we don't sleep," Angela said.
The two women watched the Russian invasion on television.
The images only heighten their worry for friends and family caught in the middle of it all.
"People are very scared and very upset, and they don't know what to do," Lana said.
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For now, those lines of communications are still open despite the bombing and missiles of Russia's invading army.
The invasion is coming at the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is being viewed as an attempt to wipe out any identity that Ukrainians have in their own country and to make it a part of Russia.
When the two women were asked about what they thought of Putin, both women were silent.
"It's a really nice, beautiful, very friendly country and they have very nice people," Lana said. "It's really incredible to see what's going on right now."
The war is expected to have an impact on many things, including spikes in the price of gas.
However, internet security expert Alan Crowetz, the president and CEO of InfoStream, said there is something else to be concerned about.
He said cyberattacks from Russia, sponsored by the government, could be crippling to the economy.
"People still don't seem to see this could be as dangerous as bombs," Crowetz said. "Some of the dangers and outages that we've had have cost companies billions of dollars."
