Kyril Sergienko of Ukraine was killed earlier this year while defending the country from invading Russian forces, leaving his wife, Yana, and 14-year-old daughter, Sofia, to pick up the pieces without a husband and father amid the continuing conflict in their homeland.

To honor Sergienko's legacy, Svetlana Evans, a Grand Junction resident who hails from Ukraine and now lives in Grand Junction, and who had known him since he was 6 years old and remains close friends with his family, opted to plant a tree locally to serve as a memorial. They are seen here singing, "Oi u luzi chervona," a Ukrainian patriotic song that uses red viburnum shrubs as an allegory for citizens' connection to their land.

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