From: Ira Kapitonova in Kyiv (Day 1019 — 3944 days since the initial aggression)
The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
The Lord is on my side as my helper;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.
Psalm 118:6-9
I’ve missed several days of posting here again. I honestly tried, but the words escaped me.
On Friday, it was the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I wanted to write something profound, but how do you thank someone enough for protecting you from the Russian horde? Besides, we feel grateful day and night, when we wake up alive after a missile attack and when we can go to bed in our apartments, when our children laugh because they don’t know the horrors of occupation, and when our life goes “as ordinary.”
You know, it’s funny to say “as ordinary” because so little is left of that old life, the life we’ll never be able to return to fully. Last week, my husband was telling me about his foreign colleague and his many hobbies. I realized it took me a while to imagine life without threats, full of dreams and hobbies.
At the same time, on Friday, we visited the Protez Foundation, an organization that helps our soldiers and civilians get high-quality prosthetic limbs and rehabilitate them, giving them hope. Our kids from the Running Club fundraised during their running season for a specific young soldier who is in his early twenties yet he’s already gone through Russian captivity. Seeing him full of life and realizing the value of every moment is nothing short of God’s miracle. He plays football (soccer) on his prosthetics and is eager to help other soldiers rehabilitate.
That’s why it’s so hard, with rapid changes in the world arena, to read heartless comments about Ukraine “ridiculously” losing the lives of soldiers. What is ridiculous in defending your country, your family, and your children? Is human life a joke? There are many speculations about Ukraine’s losses so carelessly thrown around, but don’t they understand that each life is precious? I recently wept over a fallen soldier I didn’t even know personally, yet it feels like my own great loss. Yet, how many people have lost their loved ones?
Ukraine is paying a great price, buying the world time, while many Western countries go through denial and bargaining, refusing to accept that WWIII is already in progress.
Voice of Ukraine 