Voice of Ukraine

From Maia Mikhaluk in Kyiv (420th day of ruzzzian invazion):

The more we learn details about the first days of this invazion, the more we realize what a grave danger was looming over Ukraine in those crucial moments when ruzzzian army attacked us from all sides. The courage and determination of Ukrainians compensated for the lack of preparation.

One of the things that ruzzzians tried to do in the first days was to capture Gostomel airport 25, located only 25 km northwest of the center of Kyiv.

The proximity of this airport to the capital, as well as its ability to receive heavy transport aircraft, made the airport a key point in the Russians’ plans to quickly seize Kyiv and destroy the military and political leadership of Ukraine.

Ruzzians deployed 40 combat helicopters for that assault. A handful of national guardsmen and volunteers with limited ammunition were fighting them off. The Russian military command intended to drop a large landing party at the airport, which, would seize the runway, and ensure the landing of Il-76 military transports, which can accommodate 200 soldiers each. According to the international investigative group Bellingcat, 18 such planes took off from the Russian city of Pskov, where one of the divisions of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation is based, in the direction of Kyiv at 5:00 p.m. on February 22.

Elite fighters who had actual combat experience boarded those planes. They were supposed to land in Gostomel and make a rapid march to the center of Kyiv, neutralizing the country’s leadership. And then capture President Volodymyr Zelensky so that he publicly abdicates power. The next step of the occupiers would be to deliver to the Ukrainian capital Viktor Yanukovych, ex-president of Ukraine who had fled to ruzzzia in 2014.

All this, according to the plan of the Kremlin strategists, was supposed to suppress the will to the resistance of the Ukrainian army and people.

The more we read how prepared ruzzzians were and how unprepared we were for this war, the more thankful we are to our defenders for their courage and to God for His protection.

Psalm 35:1-8
Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take up shield and armor;
arise and come to my aid.
3 Brandish spear and javelin[a]
against those who pursue me.
Say to me,
“I am your salvation.”
4 May those who seek my life
be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin
be turned back in dismay.
5 May they be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the LORD driving them away;
6 may their path be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.
7 Since they hid their net for me without cause
and without cause dug a pit for me,
8 may ruin overtake them by surprise—
may the net they hid entangle them,
may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.