LOS ANGELES — For 93-year-old Ukrainian American, Rita Deshko, home is where the Ukrainian art and design is. Her house in Los Angeles is filled with Ukrainian pictures, books, embroidery and figurines. She’s made much of the art and décor herself.

“When I came home after dinner, I was sitting here and watching television and embroidering,” she said recently, sitting in her light filled living room.

Deshko’s family had to flee Ukraine prior to WWII and they became refugees in Germany. It was there that she was first taught how to stitch traditional Ukrainian patterns onto cloth and fabrics.

“I was a teenager in Germany and we called her grandma," Deshko said. "She was a little lady. To us she was an older lady, but she wasn’t really. She taught us how to embroider. We were going over to her every Saturday and she taught us. My sister did not succeed. But I did!”

Deshko and her family immigrated to the U.S. in the 1950s, and she continued to hone her skills, making Ukrainian folk art. She began making intricate Pysanky — traditional Easter eggs decorated in colorful patterns and flowers. She purchased plates and woodwork to display on her walls.

For Deshko, Ukrainian art is intrinsically tied to her identity.

“It tells me who I am, it tells our culture, It connects me to something,” she said.

But many markers of Ukrainian culture: museums, historic buildings and monuments are, like the entire country, under threat. The Ukrainian Cultural Foundation has been monitoring cultural landmarks that have been damaged or destroyed so far during the war. At this point they count more than 150 “monuments and cultural objects” that have been partially damaged or destroyed by Russian attacks.

Sasha Razor, a curator and researcher who specializes in Belarusian and Ukrainian art, said the impacts of the war on Ukraine’s artistic community will likely be felt for years to come. “It’s not just the collection or archive that is gone. It’s not just the building that has been damaged. It is also the community and people who come with it. Some of the museum workers might take up arms and go to defend their country.” Razor said.

And while millions have had to flee into neighboring Poland and European nations, people in the country have still been doing what they can to protect monuments and historic buildings. Sandbags and fortifications have been put up to prevent bombings and shelling from destroying landmarks.

“Ukrainian people, they feel strongly about their public art, Razor said. "They have so much to do right now, they have to save their children, cats, dogs, mothers in law. No one tells them ‘we need five volunteers to put sandbags around the statue.’ They just know they have to do it and they do it."

For Deshko, Ukrainian folk art and traditional embroidery has kept her tied to her homeland — and to traditions passed down for generations.

“It’s the history of the land, that I can show, this is my country. This belongs to my country,” she said.