Pictures from friends and family in war-torn Ukraine are pouring into the local Ukrainian community. In less than a week, their lives have been turned upside down when Vladimir Putin gave orders to attack Ukraine with bombs and tanks.

Morden's Yevgeniya Tatarenko, Leader of The Borsch Ukrainian Club and Member of The Ukrainian Canadian Congress, shared her reaction to seeing the pictures she received from her friends and family.

"To see those pictures coming from people I know, or from friends of my friends, and understanding this is the horrible reality my family and friends face this day is unbelievable even to accept, heartbreaking and soul-smashing," said Tatarenko. "Those Russian tanks are real! Those are the distractions brought to my native land, and to innocent Ukrainians! But seeing how my Ukraine stands, fights, controls its territory, and to see how people of Ukraine are united and fight together, donate blood... is so empowering, so building up, so incredibly powerful!"

Tatarenko hopes the fighting will end soon.

"It’s horrible to see how innocent civilians struggle, die and face the damaging reality! I pray for the quick end of the war with the victory of Ukraine and its allies," she says.

All pictures below have been submitted and are from people connected to the Ukrainian community in Manitoba's Pembina Valley.

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Written by Robyn Wiebe