Tarnavskyi, a junior political science major from Ukraine, and Krylov, a senior economics major from Russia, organized a rally on The Green on Monday, Feb. 28, that drew students, faculty and staff demonstrating support of Ukraine in its fight against Russian forces.

“This is a battle for the basic values of humanity,” Tarnavskyi told demonstrators. “We need to stop [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and stop this war.”

The rally opened with a recording of the Ukrainian national anthem, and when the music unexpectedly cut out, the organizers began singing instead. There were only a handful of demonstrators at the beginning of the rally, but more people stopped to join the event on their way between classes. Demonstrators held Ukrainian flags and signs reading “STOP PUTIN” and “RUSSIA GO HOME.” During the rally, Naoyuki Sunam, who earned a doctoral degree in psychology from UD last year, wrote “Stop Putin” in Japanese on a sign alongside the Ukrainian flag.

“It just breaks my heart to hear about the suffering on both sides of the war,” said Sunam, who has a friend from Russia.