 Ukrainians and other Boston-area allies met in the public garden last Friday to commemorate Defenders of Ukraine Day. The public holiday is celebrated on October 14 in Ukraine to honor members of the armed forces for protecting citizens. Organizers say this Defenders Day comes at a crucial time. It's very significant that we're celebrating this in the middle of a war going on and we're coming out here and we're showing that Ukraine actually stands for all the democracy and protects the country, the world and all the values that go with it. Participants are making a circle of defense around the George Washington statue to represent the same efforts going on abroad after Russia invaded Ukraine last February. We will have Americans here. We will have other nationalities here who will stand with us holding hands to symbolize that we are all protecting, in this case, the statue of George Washington as Ukrainians protecting the world right now. As demonstrators formed the circle, they shouted several chants, including one to provide weapons. BU PhD student Daria Bogatova went back to Ukraine to deliver aid through her nonprofit during the early part of the war. She says weaponry will fortify Ukraine's defense against Russia. The aggressor that we're facing, they have all kinds of weapons. They have everything. They have tanks. They have missiles. They have rocket systems. So we do need, in fact, weapons. According to the invite for this event, more than a dozen other cities across the world are forming their own circles of defense to stand in solidarity with those on the front lines of the war in Ukraine. Here in Boston Public Garden, I'm Stephanie Joseph for BU TV News.