Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 428):

Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways!
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
Psalm 128:1-2

Sometimes I try to distance myself from the news. I intentionally try to harden my heart so that it wouldn’t be shattered by the cruelty brought upon us by Russia.

In the early hours of April 27, Russian troops attacked Mykolaiv with high-precision “Kalibr” missiles. One civilian was killed and 23 injured, including one child. A private house was destroyed. A multi-story residential building, a private home, and a historical building were significantly damaged. There were no military objects nearby. It was a pure act of terrorism.
In the past 24 hours, Russian troops shelled the Chernihiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, and Kherson regions. What are they trying to achieve except bring devastation?

Yesterday, 44 Ukrainian POWs (42 servicemen and 2 civilians) returned home from Russian captivity. Since February 24, 2022, about 2,279 Ukrainian citizens have been released from Russian captivity. My heart breaks whenever I look at the pictures of the released POWs. Every captive Ukrainian undergoes torture, humiliation, and dehumanization. You may remember a video from a few months ago when a Ukrainian POW marveled at the fresh apple. That wasn’t a unique situation. In the report about the most recent prisoner swap, there is footage of POWs sitting on the ground, eating apples. One man with a happy smile says, “I’ve been dreaming of an apple for a year!” Another one quietly eats his apple, his eyes looking down, his body shaking. The reporter says, “Welcome home,” and the man starts weeping. And I am crying with him. Lord, how long will this cruelty last?

Today, Putin signed a law that allows the deportation of Ukrainians from the occupied territories if they fail to obtain Russian citizenship by July 1, 2024. So they come to our land, kill our people, deport our people, occupy our territories, and then threaten with deportation if people refuse to obtain their citizenship. It sounds ridiculous, yet unfortunately, even the most absurd thing is possible if someone has no regard for others and deems himself a puppet master. Lord, bring your justice and defend the helpless!