Ukraine

For the last year and a half, Ukrainians have witnessed suffering first-hand, perhaps like no other Western country in modern times. They have seen explosions, heard gunfire, escaped as buildings collapsed around them, lost their jobs and livelihoods, and watched as their friends and family have given their lives for their country.

As a Ukrainian and the area director of Young Life Western Ukraine, an organization devoted to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with adolescents, I have witnessed both suffering and celebration, peace and turmoil, and heartbreak and courage in the teenagers my team and I minister to each week.

It’s been almost seventeen months since Russia first invaded Ukraine, and the nature of the headlines hasn’t changed much.

This week alone, we’ve been greeted with news of Russia bombing the ports in Odesa, threatening foreign vessels in the Black Sea, and Vladimir Putin withdrawing from an upcoming meeting with world leaders in South Africa for fear of being arrested and put on trial for war crimes. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov will go in his place.

Meanwhile, closer to home, Congress has pledged to send another $1.3 billion in military aid for Ukraine, bringing the total to more than $40 billion since Russia invaded last year. Considering the government has approved $113 billion in total aid to the country—with the expectation that those funds will be needed in some form through 2026—it seems clear they understand this war will persist as well.

It is human nature to prefer a simple explanation – even when it’s wrong – to a more complex one. As a result, it can be easy to ignore inconvenient truths when they muddy the waters of how we would prefer to see a given situation.

With the war in Ukraine, it is simpler to see Ukrainians as valiant heroes fighting in defense of their homeland and Russians as the evil invaders bent on destruction. To be sure, there is a good bit of validity to both characterizations. However, neither side is without fault in this war, and it’s vital that we don’t lose sight of the gray areas in which the truth often resides just because the world seems simpler in black and white.

Russia has launched what Kyiv officials are calling the “biggest” kamikaze drone attack so far in the war against Ukraine.

The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin's arrest for committing war crimes.

It's been one year since Russia invaded Ukraine, and officials say more than 8 million Ukrainians have fled the country, and thousands have been killed in the fighting.

According to USA Today, neither Russian leader Vladimir Putin nor Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated they are ready to begin peace talks, possibly extending the yearlong violence and upheaval.

Author and theologian Albert Mohler is applauding President Biden's surprise trip to Ukraine, saying that while he has many differences with the administration's policies, he believes Biden courageously planted a "flag" for democracy in the face of totalitarianism.

Ultimately, there’s little you or I can do to prevent the kinds of global conflicts that appear to be on the horizon. But there is an important lesson we can learn from them that makes a profound difference in our ability to navigate the trials and temptations that threaten to draw us away from God. So much of the world’s attention is currently focused on the war between Russia and Ukraine that other — potentially more dangerous — threats are allowed to persist relatively unchecked. We make the same mistake in our own lives when we become so fixated on where we expect Satan to hit us that we blind ourselves to the other areas where we are vulnerable.

Our Enemy tends not to care where he attacks so long as the attack proves effective. As such, it is often the parts of our lives to which we give little thought that prove to be the most fertile ground for temptation to take root. So take a few minutes right now to ask the Lord to show you any areas of your life where Satan may be at work in the shadows. Ask him to show you where you are most vulnerable and keep an open mind about where those areas might be.

As we join hands and hearts toward this goal, let’s learn three principles from the Ukrainians.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that Moscow would step back from its last remaining major nuclear-arms-control treaty with the US. He also vowed to continue his military campaign in Ukraine.