Seattle area prepares to welcome Ukrainian refugees

Community groups in the Pacific Northwest say they’re ready to help resettle Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion.

The United Nations says at least 874,000 people have left Ukraine for neighboring countries, as of Tuesday.

Yuriy Zaremba, who immigrated to the Seattle-area, has had trouble contacting family members living in western Ukraine. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began last week, internet connections there have been spotty and unreliable.

“Really the only information that we're getting is just something along the lines of, ‘We're still alive,’” Zaremba said during a phone interview.

Zaremba is a community advocate at the Ukrainian Community Center of Washington in Renton. He described the images of explosions and bloodshed in Ukrainian cities as “utter horror.”