Evil Plans Thwarted

Dear friends, we would like to thank you yet again for your non-ceasing prayers… The plan of the Russian invaders to besiege and occupy Kyiv has been thwarted. The Ukrainian forces are pushing them away from the capital.

However, the recaptured towns and villages around the capital, where many of UETS faculty and students lived before the war, reveal an inconceivable scope of atrocities, looting, violence and destruction. Hundreds of dead bodies of civilians – men, women and children – in streets, often tortured, with tied hands and shot in the head, indicate neither more nor less than real genocide of the Ukrainians – genocide which is taking place in the center of Europe in the 21st century.

These are godless acts committed by godless people, who have lost even traces of humanity, not to mention God’s image in them. “It can be done only by those who have killed God in themselves,” Ivan Rusyn wrote after visiting his home town of Bucha today. “God always sides with the miserable… He will cure our wounds, wipe our tears and help us rebuild Ukraine,” he added. Right now, it looks like the Russian Federation, having failed to besiege and occupy Kyiv, is regrouping and amassing its troops to launch another major offensive in the East and South of the country, probably with the view to splitting Ukraine into two parts. Undoubtedly, it is going to be accompanied with numerous missile attacks, mass killings of civilians, further flattening of Ukrainian cities, towns and villages…

So, we urge you from the bottom of our hearts to keep praying for (1) frustration of all evil plans of the enemy; (2) comfort for those who have lost their relatives and friends; (3) residents of cities and towns who are under heavy shelling and residents of occupied cities and towns who are peacefully protesting against the Russian aggression; (4) UETS students, faculty and staff currently scattered in different places; (5) UETS team of volunteers who continue serving in Kyiv and its outskirts; (6) UETS faculty, staff and students who have lost their homes or whose homes have been looted; (7) UETS staff, graduates and/or their relatives who are defending the Ukrainian land in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, National Guard or territorial defense units.