From: Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 990)
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Psalm 90:14
It’s night, and we are in our apartment corridor again. I have started thinking about it as our “bunker,” so the rest of the apartment (especially our bed) feels like a luxury we can use during rare hours without air raids. However, recent drone attacks show that the Russians started using thermobaric warheads (vacuum bombs) to increase damage and casualties among civilians. So, spending the night behind two walls is mainly a precaution for our sanity, as it can only protect us from shattered glass but not enemy drones.
I’ve noticed that I stopped checking the news in the morning. I still check to see if there is an air raid, but I’ve realized over the past month or two that every night brings destruction and death to civilians in cities away from the combat zone, so it’s something I know for sure now, and there’s no need to check it. Getting desensitized? Maybe. But is it possible not to after almost 1,000 days of insane terrorism?
The US elections gave Putin hope to establish his “new world order,” which would include lifting all the sanctions against Russia and consuming Ukraine. That was evident from his recent speech. These demands seem ridiculous, but we’ve been living in this madman’s world for a while, and nothing seems surprising anymore. We’re praying the world would remember that appeasement never works. We’ve seen it with Nazi Germany in the 1930s, but we’ve also seen it with Russia in Georgia (2008) and Crimea and Eastern Ukraine (2014). The world may be tired of the war in Ukraine, and fast solutions may seem tempting, but it would only bring the war closer to the homes of people in Western Europe. Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland may become next if Russia is not stopped in Ukraine. A bully only understands the language of power, and seeing NATO’s reluctance or exceeding caution only urges him to try harder.
In a couple of days, I will get the chance to visit my beloved YWAM Kyiv and their Discipleship Bible School. As I reread the books of prophets in preparation for my lecture, I cherish the beautiful promises of restoration given to Israel when Jerusalem laid in ruins and the people were in Babylonian captivity. I remind myself that God’s promises then went far beyond the physical restoration of His people and city, and I know He is true and faithful to His word today.
Voice of Ukraine 