Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 375):

For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
but it is God who executes judgment,
putting down one and lifting up another.
Psalm 75:6-7

It is hard not to let war consume all of your being. A year ago, forcing yourself to go about daily routines – cooking, eating, or caring for your loved ones – was challenging. We slowly came out of that deep shock. We are still re-learning to read something other than the news, to focus on work tasks (keeping your focus is still challenging), or to make plans for the future that is more than a couple of days away. We will have to re-learn many more elements of a peaceful life, but they are reserved for the “after our victory” time.

A couple of weeks ago, Facebook showed me a memory of a conversation with my son when he was 4 or 5 years old. He was showing me his toys, preparing for the battle. “Who are they fighting against?” I asked. “They are not fighting against. They are fighting for,” was my son’s reply. Of course, he followed with a silly idea that they were fighting for cereal that could turn you into a dinosaur, but the first part of his statement made me think back then and even more now when it popped up as a Facebook memory. It is not about whom you are fighting against but about what you are fighting for. It reminded me of an encouragement shared in Hebrews 12:1-2, “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Indeed, it is crucial to maintain sight of your goal, your destination, as you press on through trials and challenging circumstances.

I admire people who can think big and keep reminding us to think in specific terms about what kind of Ukraine we want to live in after the war. The representatives of Ukrainian civil society came up with a “Sustainable Peace Manifesto” (https://bit.ly/3ZIBO7G) that was presented at the Munich Security Conference to encourage the public dialog and emphasize that we shouldn’t be forced to choose between peace and justice (a seemingly simple solution promoted by some world leaders). Instead, we should seek solutions that would attain justice and sustainable peace.

The whole manifesto is available in English at the link, but here are some key points:

• The liberation of the entire territory of Ukraine and the end of hostilities will not end the war. Anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western sentiments combined with the imperial ambitions of Russia will lead to future escalation and war.
• The aggressor must bear full responsibility for the war and be held fully accountable. War criminals must be punished.
• Russia must suffer a loss of status. It should not be allowed to influence international politics through international organizations (an aggressor cannot be a member of the UN Security Council)).
• Ukraine is entitled not only to demand justice for the crimes committed by Russia but also to receive unambiguous guarantees of sustainable peace in the future (Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and NATO is the number one prerequisite for sustainable peace).
• Russia must bring its constitutional system, social structure, and political systems in line with modern-day standards. It must reject ideas of its historical exceptionalism as a separate civilization, notions of its supremacy, and territorial claims to neighboring countries.
• The international community should demand the demilitarization and denuclearization of the Russian Federation to reduce the risks of future aggression.

These statements do not offer a simple solution. Instead, they raise dozens of complex questions that need to be addressed if we are striving for sustainable peace, not just in Ukraine but at least in Europe. We need to make sure that “Never Again” doesn’t turn into an adage laughed at by terrorist governments, but we must protect our children from reliving these terrors again and again.

Let us pray for wisdom and the Lord’s guidance in navigating these complex issues.