From: Ira Kapitonova (Day 762):
“Because the poor are plundered,
because the needy groan,
I will now arise,” says the Lord;
“I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
Psalm 12:5
A little break from overly frequent missile attacks gives you a chance for more reflection. And you might try to avoid this reflection because it may be too painful.
The UN reported that they have confirmed the execution of 32 Ukrainian POWs over the winter (December 1 – February 29), which is significantly more than in any other period before. They also confirmed that the Russian army continues to use torture, ill-treatment, deaths in captivity, incommunicado detention, and forced abductions.
Some say that this increased cruelty (which is also evident in the occupied territories), combined with recent severe attacks on infrastructure objects across Ukraine, might mean that Russia finally realized that they would not be able to occupy (or subdue) us, so they decided to destroy as much as they can while they can. It’s excruciating for us, yet it would have been much worse to be under Russia.
Over the past couple of days, several well-known people have announced that they are joining the Army. Serhiy Zhadan, a Ukrainian writer, translator, public figure, volunteer, and frontman of a music band, is one of them. In 2022, the Committee of Literary Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences nominated Serhiy Zhadan for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He’s been the voice of Ukraine for the past ten years, drawing attention to the suffering of the eastern regions of Ukraine under Russian occupation as he was born in the Luhansk region. Zhadan has been living in Kharkiv and stayed in the city even when the Russian army surrounded it. I suppose the most recent vicious attacks on the town were more than he could handle as a civilian, which urged him to join the military.
A few weeks ago, I came across Serhiy Zhadan’s poem, which seemed to have been written about Andrii ‘Apostol’ Smolenskyi (I shared his story several weeks ago https://t.ly/Wguee). As it turns out, the poet wrote these lines back in 2016 because the war has been as ugly for the past ten years as it is now. Let me share my translation of Serhiy Zhadan’s poem and encourage you to pray for him and all of our defenders, both those fighting on the frontlines and those struggling with new reality back home.
+++++
With burned eyes and iron braces in the collarbone,
It takes extra effort to find reasons for living.
She looks into what used to be the eyes she had known
And says, “I’ll be your eyes. It’s just a beginning.”
“I’ll always be there to offer advice.
We’ll talk about the weather and the sky that is wide.
I love you too much to offer you lies.
Your reluctance to live is your wounded pride.”
Yet he feels that his body’s too heavy with metal
Yet he knows that this darkness is there to stay
Yet he hears the voices of those who are leaving
Yet he touches dead eyelids and brushes tears away
And he says, “Tell me now of the things I can’t perceive.
What is there in the sky over us now?
Tell me how you will comfort this blind soul, so naive?
How will you bargain each night with my dreams?”
“You can’t see how desperately we need good luck,
How the trams press on through the thick morning yawn,
How those you have known show war’s cruel tug
How quickly forgotten are those who are gone.
“I can be,” she says, “as light as your breath,
As gentle as a beast that won’t harm even sheep.
There’s one thing I can’t do, though — I can’t undo death
And make you forget those who come in your sleep.”
… And even if this winter lasts for years,
And even if life hurts as you are breathing,
Be with him, be his eyes and ears,
Be his voice, his laughter, and his feelings.
You now must see for those who are blind,
You now must love for those who can’t do it,
This winter, you see, even the trees are tired,
They are exhausted, like people, yet don’t quit.
Be the tips to his broken fingers,
Be the end to his running sentence.
Every morning, your sky this winter
Will be made of denial and acceptance.
Voice of Ukraine 