The daughters and sons of the nation of Georgia lit candles, prayed and sang for peace Sunday night in Atlanta as conflict raged with Russia thousands of miles away.

More than 100 people from Eastern European Georgia, including Hawks center Zaza Pachulia, gathered at Centennial Olympic Park at a peace rally.

Jessica McGowan/jmcgowan@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Medea Rucker, who was born in overseas Georgia, moved to the Atlanta area 18 years ago.

Jessica McGowan/jmcgowan@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

Hawks center Zaza Pachulia joins other members of the ethnic Georgian community to rally outside the CNN Center.

Jessica McGowan/jmcgowan@ajc.com (ENLARGE)

The demonstrators light candles to spell 'peace.'

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"I'm really concerned. Every second Russia is out of control and everybody there is asking for help," said Ekaterine Shapatava, one of the rally's organizers who used Facebook to get the word out.

Shapatava, of Atlanta, attended Emory University and now works at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She was shaken and tearful Sunday as she spoke about her family in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.

Atlanta physician Natia Esiashvili just returned from her village, Tskhinvali, which she said is right in the middle of the warfare.

"My children normally spend their summer there," she said. "We never imagined this conflict.... We are heartbroken."

Pachulia said he attended the rally to speak out and support his friends who are on the front line. He noted that Atlanta has the second-largest population of European Georgians in this country after New York.

A 2004 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article reported that between 30,000 and 80,000 European Georgians live in the U.S. Most came here to escape the unrest and grinding poverty that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, of which Georgia was once a member.

"We are one big family. It's very sad, innocent people are dying all over Georgia," Pachulia said. "They do it today in Georgia and tomorrow it might be another country. This is my country. My friends and family are in the war. We are talking about people's lives."

Friday night, Georgian troops moved to seize South Ossetia, a mountainous enclave bordering Russia, after clashes with separatist fighters. Moscow, saying the Georgian forces had killed Russian peacekeeping troops and civilians, responded by launching missile, artillery and air attacks and pouring hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles and troops across the border.

On Sunday, Russia pressed Georgia by land, sea and air for a third day, striking far beyond South Ossetia and brushing aside a cease-fire offer. Russian jets bombed near Tbilisi and Russian warships deployed off the country's Black Sea coast.

Tamuna Liluashvili, a U.S. and Georgian citizen, lived in Atlanta for 15 years before returning to her native country last year. She was here on vacation when the fighting broke out. She said her mother, sister and brother-in-law remain in the war zone.

"It's been really, really difficult the past three days. No one really thought it would escalate to this point," Liluashvili said, who has been sending e-mails and monitoring news of the fighting on the Internet. "We are not hating Russians. We are not against them. Georgians and Russians have always been friends."