Voice of Ukraine

From Ira Kapitonova near Kyiv (Day 533):

Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever;
let them perish in disgrace,
that they may know that you alone,
whose name is the Lord,
are the Most High over all the earth.
Psalm 83:17‭-‬18

Last night’s drone attack destroyed a fuel storage facility in the Rivne region.

Tonight, there was another attack on Zaporizhzhia. They hit civil infrastructure, a hotel in the downtown area that was often used by the UN missions. Earlier today, the hotel was used for a children’s day camp, but thankfully their program ended before the attack.

We know that Russia is using the same tactics it used in Syria. It is the “scorched earth” approach with the utter destruction of anything. Very typical thinking — “If I can’t have it, then neither can you.” My heart breaks when I read about the cities leveled with the ground, the towns that are gone forever. Mariupol, Mariinka, Bakhmut — these names are familiar to us now, but how many more unnamed cities have the same fate?

I sometimes wonder what would happen to those places after Ukraine’s victory and de-occupation. Will they be rebuilt? Will people want to return there, or would they try to forget about the places that brought too much loss and pain? Will the restored cities resemble their former looks, or will they be completely different, and if so, would they also require new names?

These questions have no answers, but they remind me that it will take decades to deal with the aftermath of this war.

Lord, restore your justice and show your mercy to our land!

I desperately want our country to be perceived and remembered as a beautiful and unique place in hopes that it all will be restored after the war.