“For You have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.”
Psalm 61:3 (NIV)
Shalom, my friend.
You know that we refuse to run away from dangerous situations when unimaginable darkness threatens the Jewish people and their neighbors. That’s why Ezra, Vice President of Global Ministry Affairs, and several of our executive team leaders joined me in spending nearly a week meeting with our partners on the ground in Ukraine and Poland.
Watch this video we recorded that shares more about our exploratory trip into Ukraine.
Our brothers and sisters – and the Jewish communities in the area – need our prayers. They need the presence of the Bright Light of the Lord during this dark hour.
The Scriptures indicate that the Lord is a refuge for His people. That He’s a strong tower of safety and support. This was realized more fully in the death and resurrection of Yeshua (Jesus).
That’s why we’re asking God to provide a fresh revelation and understanding of His safe presence to the people of Ukraine – to our partners sharing the Gospel on the frontlines and to those who are suffering.
We also pray it over your life – with whatever you may be facing today.
Thank you again for praying with us and for us in this work of ministry.
TWO RUSSIAN MISSILES STRIKE RAILWAY STATION IN KRAMATORSK, USED FOR EVACUATING CIVILIANS
The Jerusalem Post reports that at least 39 people were killed and 87 wounded when two Russian missiles struck a railway station in Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine late last week.
The station, according to The Jerusalem Post, had been used to evacuate civilians from areas under bombardment from Russian forces. And at the time of the strike, about 4,000 people – most of them elderly, women and children – were at the railway station.
Multiple reports of the attack indicate that on one of the missiles were the words “for children.”
According to The Jerusalem Post, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded on Twitter with, “Russians knew that the train station in Kramatorsk was full of civilians waiting to be evacuated. Yet they stroke [sic] it with a ballistic missile, killing at least 30 and injuring at least a hundred people. This was a deliberate slaughter. We will bring each war criminal to justice.”
According to Ukrainian President’s Office adviser Oleksy Arestovych, Russia’s attack on the Kramatorsk railway station was preceded by thorough reconnaissance.
In response, Eduard Basurin, press secretary of the pro-Russian separatist-controlled breakaway state the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), claimed that the rocket strike was not done by Russian troops or pro-Russian forces and was a “provocation” by the Ukrainian military.
Russia’s Defense Ministry also denied responsibility for the attack.
UKRAINE WARNS CIVILIANS OF “LAST CHANCE” TO FLEE RUSSIAN ATTACKS IN EAST
According to The Times of Israel, Ukraine urged residents in the eastern areas of the country late last week to take their “last chance” to flee mounting Russian attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia – which denies responsibility for the killings of civilians – was undeterred and continued “to accumulate fighting force to realize their ill ambitions in (eastern) Donbas.”
“They are preparing to resume an active offensive,” he said, while officials in Donbas’ Luhansk and Donetsk regions begged civilians to leave.
The Times of Israel reports that as of late last week, 1,200 people had been evacuated from Luhansk but that efforts were being hampered by artillery fire.
The evacuation calls are being fueled by fears of fresh atrocities, after chilling discoveries in areas from which Moscow’s troops have withdrawn.
NEW EVIDENCE OF BUCHA MASSACRE DURING RUSSIAN OCCUPATION
The Jerusalem Post reports that more evidence of the alleged Bucha Massacre was shared online by an independent Russian media outlet that obtained high-quality drone footage of the southern district of the city.
The videos, taken between March 23 and March 30 by Russian national Sergei “Botsman” Korotkikh, who is fighting alongside Ukraine, allegedly showed the corpses of Ukrainian residents of Bucha, a city in the Kyiv Oblast near Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
It was determined that the bodies in the footage line up with the location of bodies found between April 1 and April 2 after Russian troops left the city. The videos also note military equipment used by Russian troops near the bodies.
The implication, according to The Jerusalem Post, is not only that the Bucha Massacre likely occurred as Ukraine had alleged – but also that it occurred before Russian troops left the city. It also counters claim by Moscow, who deny that Russian troops were responsible for the mass deaths in the city.
The Bucha Massacre was discovered by Ukraine after Ukrainian troops retook the city.
According to Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk, around 320 bodies have been found in Bucha, with just around half (163) having been definitively identified. “These are the citizens of our city who were cynically killed, brutally tortured by the Russians,” Fedoruk explained.
The alleged massacre has sparked widespread condemnation – with many accusing Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
LET US PRAY TOGETHER
Please pray with me for:
- God to bring peace and safety to the situation in Ukraine, protecting the lives that could potentially be at risk
- God to move in the hearts of world leaders and give wisdom to address the global threat of a nuclear Iran
- God’s protection to be upon His people in Israel, who are constantly facing threats and violence from surrounding enemies
- Peace in the hearts and minds of the people of Israel and their enemies
- Jewish people to recognize Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah
