Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 397):

O you who love the Lord, hate evil!
He preserves the lives of his saints;
he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 97:10

Usually, when we think about children, we think about them in terms of our future – they are to become the new generation, they are to take our places, they are to do great things. That’s why the enemy has been attacking the very future of Ukraine.

According to some estimations, 3.2 million Ukrainian children have become refugees in other nations (which for most of them meant being separated from their fathers). Over 2.5 million Ukrainian children have been internally displaced. About the same number of kids must study online or use a mixed form of learning for safety reasons. About 1.5 million Ukrainian children are at risk of developing depression, anxiety, and other psychological problems. These numbers are devastating, and we must do everything to help these precious children heal from the trauma they’ve experienced.

However, the problem does not stop there. Over the past year, Russians have abducted thousands of children from occupied regions of Ukraine under the disguise of security measures, but their attempt to “re-educate” them and deprive them of their Ukrainian identity clearly shows their genocidal intentions. A recent report by the Yale School of Public Health identified a network of more than 40 “re-educational” camps and facilities stretching from Russian-occupied Crimea to Siberia. Something of this scale does not happen overnight. Many of the abduction victims were orphans or children living in care, yet some were forcefully separated from their families and told they were no longer wanted. In some cases, Ukrainian parents were tricked or coerced into sending their children to Russia. Current estimates indicate that well over ten thousand young Ukrainians have been abducted and sent to Russia.

Ukrainian authorities try to find and retrieve our children. Last week, 17 kids from the Kharkiv and Kherson regions were able to return from Russian captivity to their relatives. The children shared some horrifying stories of mistreatment. The living conditions they were kept in were similar to prison – no bedding sheets, dirty mattresses, and very little food. One boy said they were constantly threatened with torture if they didn’t deny their Ukrainian identity, and he saw one girl being beaten by the “guards.” This boy even recognized one of the offenders – an officer who betrayed Ukraine, joined the invaders, and organized the deportation of Ukrainian kids from Sloviansk (Ukraine) to Rostov (Russia) in 2014.

Not to overwhelm you with statistics, I will not mention the number of children killed or wounded by Russian aggression. Just remember that no child in Ukraine has been left unharmed in one way or another.

Lord, have mercy on the children of Ukraine. Preserve their lives and deliver them from the hand of the wicked.