A Greensboro man and woman are raising money to help their Ukrainian friend who is fleeing the country with her daughters.WAR IN UKRAINE:Russia faced growing outrage on Thursday after an attack on a children's hospital in the besieged southern port city Mariupol left at least three people dead including one child, according to Ukrainian officials.With the war entering its third week, a meeting between the countries' top diplomats failed to produce any breakthroughs.The talks came as Ukraine sought to evacuate more residents trapped in hard-hit areas and accused Russia of war crimes for targeting civilians. On Thursday, NBC News reported that civilian casualties had risen to more than 1,500, according to the United Nations.More than 83,000 residents were evacuated from areas across the country in the past two days, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Thursday in a post on Telegram.GANNA KOLESNIK:One of those residents is Ganna Kolesnik, who took part in a program at the University of North Carolina Greensboro in 2003. The visiting professor studied in the department of theology at the time.WXII 12 News talked with Kolesnik on Thursday. Kolesnik left her hometown, Mykolaiv, Ukraine with her two daughters on Tuesday.Their 30-hour journey took them across Moldova and into Bucharest, Romania, where they are currently staying in a hostel.She said she left her hometown as Russian forces invaded the country."I was crying all the time because it is horrible," she said. "When you hear the sirens. When you hear the sounds, your heart is falling down. You don’t know what to do. You tremble, especially when you see how your children are frightened."One of the hardest parts of the journey was leaving her husband and parents behind, she said. Kolesnik's husband stayed back in Mykolaiv to fight the war, and to care for their parents who could not travel due to health issues, she told WXII 12 News.Her daughters are trying to wrap their heads around the big change."My older daughter, she can’t hear her father’s voice on the phone. She starts crying all the time. She starts talking to him, and she starts crying because she misses him, and she’s afraid she will not see her father again," Kolesnik said.Kolesnik and her daughters are looking for ways to continue their journey toward Western Europe. Her reason for staying strong is her daughters."I’m a mother and mothers have no choice. Mothers’ first duty is to protect their children. We can’t think about ourselves. We must think about the children," she said. "We have given them life, and our duty is to protect them, and bring them to safety, and secure their future. And should we suffer to do so, then we suffer."GREENSBORO:During Kolesnik's time at UNCG, she met two neighbors, Dave Taylor and Adrienne Everheart, in Greensboro, which would eventually develop into close friendships.Everheart hosted Kolesnik as she attended UNCG.Throughout the past 19 years, the three friends often kept in touch.During a recent phone call between Taylor and Kolesnik, Taylor told WXII 12 News, "I could hear the shooting and the explosions and stuff in the background." He added, "she did make that comment to you (Everheart), that dry socks are a luxury right now."After Russia invaded Ukraine, Taylor and Everheart decided to raise money for their beloved friend, Kolesnik and her family."You have this Ukrainian in another country where she doesn’t really speak their language or have the skillset they need, and suddenly, make a life for herself and protect her children and provide for her," Everheart said. "How do you do that if you don’t have support and people looking out for you?"Taylor and Everheart continue to keep in contact with Kolesnik as she and her daughters flee for their lives.Both friends in Greensboro created a GoFundme to help.If you'd like to help Kolesnik and her family, please click here.