Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 462):

The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
purified seven times.
Psalm 12:6

The war Ukraine is fighting now is not an army war. It is the struggle of a nation against the oppressor that wants to annihilate it. That is why the whole country joins in this fight. That is why we see a university professor teaching an online lecture from a trench. That is why we see professional athletes and musicians practicing in-between artillery attacks. That is why we have people of different life journeys fighting alongside each other, united by one goal.

Unfortunately, this war not only destroys our present but also threatens our future. Every life lost is an opportunity missed, a discovery shattered, a story stifled, and progress failed. It is so easy to drown in this despair and grief. However, I am thankful to see our people discover dignity even in devastation.

Just today, I came across several announcements of scholarship and endowment funds established in memory of the fallen heroes.

* Roman Ratushny was a young activist, 24 years old, who fought to preserve a park zone in Kyiv’s downtown. His legacy will live on in a “Protasiv Yar” festival that will take place throughout the summer and include concerts, poetry nights, lectures, discussions, and various workshops. Roman also willed his combat payments to several historical and cultural organizations that have established scholarships in his memory for the people striving to continue Roman’s endeavor of preserving Kyiv’s historical legacy.

* Bizhan Sharopov was a young and aspiring biologist and biophysicist. His friends say that he was an exceptional person and inspired everyone he met. They established a scholarship in his memory to help other unique, ambitious, inspiring people. His friend, Roman Nabozhniak, dreams that one day the laureate of the Bizhan Sharopov Scholarship will bring the Nobel Prize to Ukraine, and Bizhan’s name will be mentioned during the award ceremony in Stockholm, and people from all over the world will learn what he lived for and what he gave his life for.

* Yuriy Osadchuk worked in IT. Even before the full-scale war, he and his wife talked about scholarship as a good tool to be helpful to others, a form of support for young people, which provides an opportunity for development and self-discovery but does not offer ready-made solutions. The scholarship fund, established in his memory, will be available for the students of the Applied Science Faculty of the Ukrainian Catholic University. Yuriy’s wife says, “Students should understand that they are the future of our country. The country that has been fighting on the front line for the past nine years. Therefore, they mustn’t wait for everything to happen by itself but help create the future.”

I am overwhelmed by these stories, stories of dignity, stories of rising above the visible despair and looking into the hopeful future. Even when the Russians kill the best of our people, they only help spread the values our people are fighting and dying for.

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20, NIV)