Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 388):

O Lord, God of my salvation,
I cry out day and night before you.
Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!
Psalm 88:1-2

Last night, Ukraine was attacked with kamikaze drones. 11 out of 16 were shot down. Thankfully, there were no missiles this time. They say it is likely that the missile attacks will be limited to one per month since Russia needs to replenish its supply of missiles. Spring is coming, and we are approaching the farming season. Please, pray for this planting season – for the safety of those working in the fields (especially in the de-occupied parts of Ukraine) and for no interference with the planting season (last year, the Russians targeted fuel storages to cause fuel shortage).

A Facebook memory reminded me that 9 years ago, on March 18, 2014, Ukraine lost its first serviceman who fell from Russian guns. It happened in Simferopol (Crimea). Russian military made an assault on the photogrammetric center operational support, and Serhii Kokurin was on an observant tower. He died from a gunshot wound to the heart and head. Putin kept saying that Russia took control of Crimea in a bloodless way, yet this incident clearly shows it was a lie.

On that same day, March 18, 2014, the residents of Simferopol came to the funeral of Reshat Ametov, the first civilian victim of Russian aggression. Reshat Ametov was a Crimean Tatar activist who came to protest the occupation of Crimea. On March 3, 2014, he went to the main square of Simferopol for a single-man protest, where he was detained and taken in an unknown direction. His mutilated body was found almost two weeks later. He was the first Crimean Tatar of the many persecuted and abducted for their resistance to occupation.

May the world remember that this current invasion is simply a new, full-scale stage of the war on Ukraine that Russia started in 2014. We keep praying for justice and restoration.