Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 395):

For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
Psalm 95:3-4

I had a long drive today going to a different region of Ukraine. Despite the rainy weather, I could admire the beautiful nature of my country. Hills, woods, fields, plains – God was generous in creativity.

Another thing that drew my attention was the abundance of flags. There were flags on people’s homes, at every checkpoint, and on fresh graves in cemeteries in every other village. The first time I saw people putting up Ukrainian flags in their homes was during the Revolution of Dignity and then when Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014. It was the first time the people felt their identity threatened and felt the need to reaffirm it. For some, it was the first step toward discovering or accepting their identity. The invasion of 2022 finalized this need.

We know a wonderful family who had to leave their home in 2014 as Russia occupied that part of Ukraine. Once they settled in their new permanent location, they put a large Ukrainian flag on a flagpole in their yard. Last year, when that part of the country was at risk of Russian troops getting there, the flag remained on their flagpole. It was their fearless statement of their identity – one that still gives me goosebumps.

In the Soviet Union, they tried to erase any identity and create a “Soviet Man” (“homo soveticus”) – indifferent, passive, obedient, and loyal. That’s why it is so important that we can take one more step away from the Soviet legacy and say, “I am Ukrainian, and I am not ashamed to admit it, and I am not afraid to fight for it.”