Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova near Kyiv (Day 529):

Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and atone for our sins,
for your name’s sake!
Psalm 79:9

I fell asleep last night without waiting for the 3 am air raid warning to be over. This morning, we learned that our air-defense forces took down 30 missiles and 27 kamikaze drones (70 aerial targets were launched). There were no specific reports on the damage caused during this attack, except that most hits fell on the Khmelnytskyi region, trying to target one of the main airfields in western Ukraine.

I saw someone’s comment that we should be glad about the missile attacks, especially when the weapons hit empty targets, causing minimal destruction, because the more rockets they use now, the less they will have to terrorize us with once the fall/winter comes. We have no illusions regarding the upcoming season, and many say that this winter may be even more trying than the previous one, but we keep hoping in the Lord.

I saw a report today about people adjusting to life after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed. It reminded me that the fact that something isn’t news anymore doesn’t automatically resolve the situation. The cities and villages liberated from the Russian occupation even a year ago still haven’t returned to “ordinary” life. People who lost their homes may still be mourning the loss of their identity and belonging. It often feels like one challenge slowly transforms into another, as if you are passing levels in a computer game, and the tasks get tougher and tougher.

This specific report was about people living upstream from Kakhovka. They suffered from the loss of water in the Kakhovka reservoir. They used to call that reservoir a sea because of its vastness, and now they see a vast desert and wait for the cisterns to bring in water. However, even in such sad circumstances, there is room for something beautiful. While waiting in line for water, people share their ways of saving water – some wash their fruit and vegetables, then reuse this water to clean the floor or flush the toilet. Others remembered the good old days when they could shower since now they had to resort to a wash cloth and a pail. And one man shared the story of stealing water from his wife to water her plants: “She loves her flowers very much, but now we don’t have enough water even for the tomato plants. My wife cries and apologizes to the flowers because tomatoes can be eaten and flowers cannot. So I quietly water her flowers a little when she is not looking. She doesn’t know that and is very happy, thinking they are so resilient and abundant on their own.

This story was so sweet that it immediately brightened my mood after reading that article. You realize that the lack of water hasn’t changed this woman caring about her flowers or her husband caring about his wife’s joy, so you know that love still prevails.