Hundreds marked Ukraine's 35th year of independence inside Circle Cinema Aug. 24 amid ongoing uncertainty, both in the Russia-Ukraine war and with immigration documentation for refugees in the U.S..

"It's pretty incredible that they've been able to be so resilient, to be uprooted and forcibly removed, honestly, from their homelands to come to Tulsa and create this community," YWCA Tulsa's Immigrant & Refugee Services director Molly Bryant said.

"No one actually planned to leave our motherland to flee a war," Igor Ruban told 2 News.

Ruban, born and raised in Khiv, was reunited with his wife and kids in Tulsa two years ago. He now works as a refugee program supervisor with YWCA, which also sponsored the Ukrainian independence event.

Tulsa-based chaplain Karl Ahlgren of Ukraine Action Pla

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