Tuesday marks four years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Peace talks to end the war continue. Here in Massachusetts, Ukrainian Americans are supporting their homeland by continuing to practice an ancient and traditional folk art form that is a cornerstone of their culture.

On a recent afternoon, Vika Wasyliw-Yap sat in front of a row of empty chicken eggs, each dyed in vibrant colors of yellow, red or blue. She lit a candle and drew lines and patterns from wax on the eggs.

“One of the biggest challenges is drawing straight lines,” she said with a laugh.

Vika Wasyliw-Yap shows a collection of her favorite pysanky. (Amanda Beland/WBUR)

The decorated eggs are called pysanky, which comes from the Ukrainian word meaning ‘to write.’ It’s a process where an artist draws on eggs and then layers different colored shades of dye to create elaborate designs. The practice is thousands of years old, and has traditionally been practiced around Easter to welcome spring. But over the last decade, more and more people have taken it up to support Ukraine’s war with Russia.

“I get very antsy when I feel powerless and I need to do something with my hands,”  Wasyliw-Yap said. “It helped me feel control over the situation, even though I had none.”

Wasyliw-Yap learned pysanky as a child growing up in New York, but didn’t keep up with the tradition. She was a student at Northeastern University when she picked it back up.

A table loaded with dyes used to color the eggs. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

“ I bought a dozen white eggs, emptied them, and just started,” she said.

This was in 2014. Wasyliw-Yap said she felt compelled to start making pysanky again because of the Euromaidan protests, which resulted in the deaths of dozens by government forces. What followed was the Revolution of Dignity, also called the Ukrainian Revolution, which triggered Russia to occupy and annex Crimea. Eight years later, Russia fully invaded Ukraine.

Through the Euromaidan protests, Ukrainians around the world began learning or relearning traditions that are unique to the country, such as pysanky. Wasyliw-Yap said she uses her eggs to start conversations about her homeland.

“There’s so much more to [Ukraine] than just the war,” Wasyliw-Yap said. “There is culture, heritage, history, art — that is all still happening there and should continue to be celebrated.”

This includes the eggs themselves, which she said should also be celebrated.

Anna Nosal applies wax onto an egg with a kistka to mask out any additional dye she will use. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

“ Just the fact that they exist, I think, demonstrates resistance,” Wasyliw-Yap said.

The creation of pysanky, among other Ukrainian cultural traditions, was banned under the Soviet Union. In some parts of Ukraine, the practice stopped completely. In other areas, writers continued the tradition by creating eggs in secret.

“In a time where another country is trying to annihilate its neighbor, the first thing they do is get rid of the culture, because without that, there is no country,” said Sofika Zielyk, an ethnographer and pysanky artist.

Zielyk grew up in New York and learned how to make pysanky when she was a child. She was the first Ukrainian American to have an art exhibit in Ukraine following the fall of the Soviet Union. She’s been curating a pysanky exhibit at The Ukrainian Institute of America in New York City since the full-scale invasion began four years ago. They’ve collected over 1,000 eggs from nearly 20 countries. She hopes to bring the eggs to Ukraine when peace is achieved.

“ Our ancestors created eggs and rituals for the rebirth of nature,” Zielyk said. “This will be for the rebirth of a nation from the ashes of war.”

The Eggibabas sit at a table decorating eggs at the Ukrainian Youth Association office in Norwood. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The current conflict is top of mind for the Boston chapter of the Ukrainian American Youth Association. Every week since the 2022 invasion began, members get together to write pysanky. They then sell the eggs and send the proceeds to support Ukraine. They’ve created and sold hundreds of eggs. They also regularly send care packages to the country.

Nick Zozula is the president of the chapter. He said if it weren’t for groups like the association, some traditions may have been lost.

Olya Baryski heats up the wax in the Kistka to design the egg she is working on. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

“People in Ukraine right now are still fighting that battle to be able to engage in their traditions and their celebrations and their history and culture,” Zozoula said. “Which, unfortunately, is a main goal of Russian aggression and has been for centuries … to erase the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian identity.”

On Wednesdays, the group sits at a long table, heads bowed as if in prayer, creating their pysanky. Olya Baryski, one of the group’s members, is responsible for emptying the eggs before the others begin designing them. She says it’s a time for them to catch up and re-engage with their culture.

Stephanie Majkut melts the wax off the egg she designed with a candle. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

“None of us are blood related, but we became like sisters in a family because this culture has kept us together,” said Baryski.

A big part of creating pysanky is teaching. Mary Ann Zozula grew up in the Ukrainian American Youth Association. Her son is now the head of it. She, her son and her daughter-in-law are now teaching her grandchildren how to write pysanky. She said she wants them and others to know their history

“ I just want them to know about Ukraine and what they’re going through and how we are trying to perpetuate and continue the traditions that our parents and our grandparents had and passed on to us,” Zozula said. “And we want to pass it on to other people.”

A tray with finished pysanky. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Alona Popova wants that too. She’s the co-founder and secretary of the Ukrainian Cultural Center of New England. That’s why she writes with the group and teaches pysanky across the state.

“My main goal is to preserve, reproduce, teach others,” Popova said. “And I will be there for my people in Ukraine, for the peace and for the victory.”