Dozens of people chose to stand in the snow Saturday in Putnam County for a rally organized by a Ukrainian-American woman and her Russian-American friend. 

The two hope the vigil will send a message of peace to the international community.

Maria Reshetnikova and Lilya Shyliveska hosted the vigil and rally Saturday afternoon in their hometown of Cold Spring at St. Mary’s Church. Reshetnikova is originally from Moscow and Shyliveska is from Ukraine. 

Reshetnikova condemned the Russian invasion and she’s faced backlash for it.

“I got a lot of nasty messages on Facebook openly condemning this war, accused of being a betrayer and committing treason,” said Reshetnikova.

She says people in Russia face jail time for speaking out and she hopes people will pray for Ukrainians and for Russians who face what she calls "Putin’s oppressive regime."

Shyliveska says Ukraine is fighting for the whole world so the world should fight for Ukraine with tougher sanctions and missile defense. 

They say their vigil won’t be their last and there will be more opportunities to pray together as long as the war continues.