Voice of Ukraine

From Snezhana in Odesa: Today I want to tell you about our brother S who is from a small church in the northern part of Odesa. He was a successful software tester in an IT company before the full-scale Russian invasion. He entered the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the very first days of the war after he provided his wife and daughter with a safe passage across the border.

S was sent to one of the hottest spots on the front line a week ago. One soldier describes that location like this: “Now I know where the hell on the Earth is. It is in Bahmut. That’s a small town in the Donetsk area much desired by our enemy. So much that they spare neither strength nor weapons nor personnel.” You may have seen pictures of the fields littered with corpses of Russian soldiers in the news. That is Bahmut.

A few days ago, his wife got a message from her husband where he said, “I should have died yesterday. I was in a trench with my commander and another soldier. The explosions from the shelling were getting closer and closer, and I prayed that God would save me. Then I stood up and ran. One of the shells hit the trench I laid at.”

Our dearest friend got a contusion. One of his colleagues died immediately, the other – a few days later in the hospital.

Our church meets for an online prayer four times a week. We pray about each soldier, doctor, and paramedic at the front line. Some of them we know personally, some are people we heard. And we keep repeating their names sometimes without knowing who they are but hoping that our Lord Jesus knows them and will keep them safe.

P.S. Our brother successfully recovered from the contusion and was discharged from the hospital. This picture was made by S. after his returning into his unit.