While the debate in our news is about permitting Ukraine to use Western supplied long-range missiles to make strikes deep into Russian territory, ordinary Ukrainians continue to suffer the heartbreak of separation, loss and uncertainty.
Day 935 of this terrible war; so many lost lives and lost homes; Russian forces have advanced near Chasiv Yar, Pokrovsk, and Vuhledar. The fighting is ‘hot’ – there are many wives, mothers and children waiting to hear if their loved ones will survive and return home.
Our partner Vasily lived in Pokrovsk and, until recently, was baking and distributing thousands of loaves of bread and delivering thousands of litres of water to villages near to the front lines. However, with the war now on their doorsteps, people who have held out for two and a half years, have had to make the hard decision to evacuate. July and August saw the highest monthly civilian death tolls since Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine began in 2022 and Russian air strikes are non-stop in this area.
Over the past month, Vasily has carried out about 120 evacuations taking families to safety. Funds from Dnipro Hope Mission enabled him and his team to carry out four evacuations a day using three crews. He says: ‘There was a lot of work and a lot of need. Sometimes we had to refuse people due to lack of time.’ Vasily has evacuated his own family to the relative safety of North-eastern Ukraine. They have joined the many millions of Ukrainians who have packed their lives into bags and suitcases and face a future as internally displaced people or refugees.
With his son and nephew, Vasily has returned to the Donetsk region and continues to evacuate people, resolve issues, help friends and brothers…on September 13th Russia cut off water supplies to Pokrovsk as they continued the offensive across Donetsk and Kherson regions… who will supply bread and water now to those who have been left behind?
Please donate to Dnipro Hope Mission, if you can, to enable us to continue supporting our amazing partners like Vasily who carry out acts of compassion and kindness and loving one’s neighbour even when their own lives are at risk. Giving details are below the photographs which were sent to us by Vasily.
If you would like to support DHM partners who are working round the clock to provide humanitarian relief to front line communities, please donate either through Stewardship or through a standing order or one-off payment to the DHM account:
Sort Code: 30-90-91 / Account Number: 68149860
Account Name: Dnipro Hope Mission; Bank Name: Lloyds Bank
Written by Melanie Gray, Dnipro Hope Mission Trustee
