Southern Ukraine is Crying Out for Help

On June 6th, we were all shaken by yet another savagely cruel act of terrorism carried out by Russia on Ukraine’s territory. Early in the morning, Russians blew up the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant across the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, causing its complete destruction along with a large-scale humanitarian and environmental disaster across southern Ukraine. 

The demolition of the dam resulted in floodwaters hitting about 80 settlements downstream from the dam, causing their complete or partial flooding. In some regions, the level of water has already risen to rooftops. In other regions, the floodwaters continue to arrive.

The full scope of the damage caused will be clear in a week when the water goes away, but we already know that the consequences are catastrophic: thousands of people are left without homes, infrastructure is destroyed, supply of drinking water is disrupted in many regions, flooded fertile lands downstream of the dam and dried up lands upstream become unsuitable for agriculture, industries in big cities decline, dangerous infectious diseases arise, thousands of animals die, and a big part of Ukraines nature lost forever. 

As of June 8th, nearly 1900 people have been evacuated, and the rescue mission still continues. At the same time, Russian troops continue to shell the affected territories, making the evacuation process very dangerous. The situation on the left bank of the Dnipro river in the Kherson region, which is now occupied by Russia, is even more disastrous as the Russian troops have completely failed to organize the evacuation, leaving people completely abandoned in the face of this tragedy. First cases of deaths of people unable to evacuate have already been reported in occupied regions, and unfortunately, these numbers will continue to rise.  

Ukrainians from all over the country are now mobilizing their efforts in order to help evacuate people from flooded regions and provide them with humanitarian support. Please pray for God’s protection over our brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone to the affected regions to help rescue people. 

Also, please, pray for all people directly affected by this disaster. They are now deeply heartbroken and feel desperate and hopeless. Those in the occupied regions are crying out for help and waiting for a miracle to save their lives. Please pray for God’s miraculous works to save those lives, for safe evacuation of all affected, and for those people to experience God’s love, hope, and His healing touch in these tragic circumstances.