As the Russian military continues to advance on Ukrainian cities in the ongoing invasion, there are growing pleas for help from inside Ukraine.
In the Bay Area, some are trying to support their loved ones and those pleas from a distance through phone calls, money and others are even considering joining the fight to defend their homeland.
For Bay Area resident Andrii Koshokaru, images of explosions at Ukrainian government buildings at Svobody Square in Kharkiv are devastating.
"This is the heart of my city," Koshokaru said. "This is the place where Kharkiv citizens are going every weekend or so."
For the last six days, he's been online gathering videos of the Russian assault on his country to share on social media.
But recently he's been doing something different -- he's been helping remove pin drops on online maps that some believe are being used by the Russian military for GPS targeted rocket attacks.
"There's people that are just bringing this alert, people go and start clicking and removing these spots," he explained.
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Koshokaru is using his Silicon Valley skills and connections to contact companies with online digital maps to do something about this.
Google has already temporarily disabled many live mapping tools to try and protect busy areas in Ukraine.
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As Koshokaru pitches in from behind his desk, others like Sacramento resident Wasil Boris are considering joining the fight in person.
"I want to go to Ukraine but my wife says 'no, stay here'," he told NBC Bay Area.
Boris decorated his contractors van with the colors of his homeland.
He said he and his family haven't slept much over the last few days. They're in constant contact with family members in Kyiv.
Since he can't help them there immediately, he decided to decorate his van with a simple message: "Russia, stop war. Stop war. Stop war."
Quite a few people have asked how to get to Ukraine to help. Last week the Ukrainian consulate reported they were getting about 10 calls a day and that number has now escalated to 100 calls a day.
