Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 486):

Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
Psalm 36:10‭-‬11

Some days are so packed with news that it feels like the events were taking place a week ago when, in fact, it was less than 24 hours.

Today is one of those days. It started in the middle of the night with yet another massive missile strike. Ukraine was under the warning of missile attacks, and I couldn’t fall asleep and kept checking the news updates. Even though we are in a relatively safe location, our loved ones are scattered across the country, so I am often awake during air raids, praying for them and checking the news.

Last night, Russia launched 51 missiles (20 aimed at Kyiv) and two kamikaze drones. Our air defense shot down 41 missiles and both drones. However, the remaining missiles brought a lot of destruction to Dnipro and Kharkiv. 8 people (including two children) were injured in Dnipro as a result of the attack. In Kyiv, the debris from the missile fell on an apartment building, killing three and injuring 8 people. One might think we should have gotten used to this sort of thing after more than a year of full-scale war (and more than 9 years of hybrid war), yet it always comes as a shock.

The rest of the day was filled with fascinating (to be honest, it’s hard to come up with an appropriate adjective) news reports from Russia. The leader of the Wagner group mercenaries announced a coup to demote the military leadership in Russia. The mercenaries started a march on Russia, taking over the cities and getting into armed encounters with the regular troops. They shot down several helicopters of the Russian army and destroyed some military vehicles. It was an unusual experience to be a bystander and see your enemy divided and turning on each other. It was especially wild if you considered the unlikelihood of something like this even a year ago. By tonight’s evening, the Wagner groups announced that they were returning to their stations, having reached an agreement with Putin. It doesn’t change much for Ukraine on the battlefield, but we definitely appreciate the destruction of several helicopters, an airplane, and a fuel reservoir.

Our soldiers keep doing the impossible, and they are slowly progressing, pushing the enemy away from our land. Our counteroffensive may not look very exciting, or perhaps it may seem too slow and overly cautious, but I appreciate that our military commanders are not after some pretentious results but rather make the lives of our soldiers and civilians their top priority.

Please, keep praying. We need your prayers, and we need God to move in mighty ways so that the whole world would see and give glory to His name.