Recent Events in Ukraine
Actions regarding the crisis in Ukraine have been fast and furious this week. There have been some significant developments that will soon become public knowledge that will continue to show that Putin’s Russia is the callous aggressor and totally indifferent to any person or nation as it pursues its rabid nationalistic delusion that Putin can restore the Czarist Empire draped under the title of “The New Russia.”
The devastation being left in the wake of Russia’s selfish delusion is unbelievable. I have received a number of photos that can only be described as horrible evil inflicted by an ungodly beast! I have passed a few of these on to some but a large number have been deleted. Many in the USA simply cannot comprehend the great evil that is being committed in the name of Russia’s “Freedom Fighters.”
Ukraine’s Anti-Terrorist Operations (ATO) continues to regain areas that had been seized by the pro-Russian anarchists. As Ukraine regains control of these locations unbelievable horrors of brutality are being discovered. Many of these areas are devastated and those survivors are in the most desperate conditions.
Churches Collecting Items
Our efforts to collect and send relief commodities to those who have been exiled in internally displaced persons (IDP) locations continue. The Hillsboro church of Christ (Nashville, TN) has collected approximately 500 family buckets. The congregation had a special mission’s night last Sunday evening that discussed how the Church’s buckets would assist brethren in Ukraine. We are in the process of arranging transport of these buckets to the Searcy location where they will soon be loaded into a cargo container and shipped into Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. Once in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine then Ivan Skoleba and the Ivano-Frankivsk church of Christ will distribute to IDP locations throughout Ukraine (these will be locations that are secure and safety in the distribution will be guarded by contacts in the security forces, military and militia).
All commodities shipped will be distributed in the name of the Lord’s Church. A special sticker will be affixed that will identify the item as being from the churches of Christ. This benevolent gift will be used by God to open doors of opportunity for the preaching of the gospel. We have seen this occur repeatedly in our efforts. The good work is not an end in itself but is a tool to open an avenue for God’s grace to be known through the preaching of the gospel.
Thank you for being partners in this effort!
Approval of Shipments of Rice to Ukraine
This week we received word that Kyiv approved the shipment of a container of rice that will load out of Texas this coming week. The rice will go to feed those in IDP locations, those wounded, those elderly and those orphans who can be located after their evacuation from Donetsk and Lugansk. Hopefully this will be the first container of rice that is shipped—we hope to be able to ship one container of rice each month. We should also soon be loading other containers with the Family Buckets, clothing, and miscellaneous items. I would like to see a total of four containers shipped in August—that is an optimistic hope but it is not impossible.
Contributions for Shipping Costs
Contributions coming in…almost every day we are receiving checks to assist in transportation or purchasing of benevolent items to send into Ukraine. At this point we have received $3,025.00 in donations to assist in the transportation costs. Others have told us they are sending funds so this amount will continue to increase. At this point shipping transportation costs for a door-to-door move are $7,000.00-$8,000.00 depending on the loading location in the USA (the closer to a seaport the less expensive the costs).
A wonderful response has started…will YOU help spread the word so the Lord’s Church can respond to the catastrophe in Ukraine that has resulted because of Russia’s evil aggression??
Pleas for Help
I continue to receive communications from contacts in Ukraine about the on-going war, the displaced victims of anarchy’s evil, and the innocent children that have been forever traumatized by the horror’s that have stolen their childhood innocence. My Consignee in Korosten, Zhitomyr Oblast sent me these photos. In the gallery for Update #4 you will find precious faces to put alongside the cold statistics of Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.
Efforts to communicate the crisis to a reluctant government and receive assistance in offering real relief assistance have been met with deaf ears, self-willed blindness, and callous sensitivities that only “assess” the situation. Providing true relief has fallen upon the private sector. Here are pleas sent directly to America–see the pics with the signs asking for help…
We need HELP to help those in Ukraine. Please send a donation to:
College Church of Christ/UKRAINE MISSIONS
2934 East Moore Street
Searcy, Arkansas 72143
Additional Briefing Points from the Last Few Days
From: SK
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2014 8:07 AM
Subject: Update from Ukraine
See the map of the ATO attached. http://mediarnbo.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/KARTA-ATO-14.08-eng.jpg
August 14 — A Russian aid convoy has resumed its travel toward Ukraine, with at least part of the convoy heading south toward the rebel-held Luhansk region. Russian officials have not said where the convoy of nearly 300 trucks is headed. Russia initially said the convoy would cross into the government-controlled Kharkiv region.
— Speaking in Crimea, Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia will do its utmost to stop the bloodshed in Ukraine, where government forces are fighting pro-Russian separatists in the east.
— The leader of pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region says he is stepping down, the second senior separatist figure to resign in a week.
— There have been conflicting reports on whether Igor Strelkov, the so-called defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) in eastern Ukraine, has been wounded.
http://www.rferl.org/contentlive/liveblog/25416257.html
August 14– (Reuters) – The Ukrainian parliament approved a law on Thursday to impose sanctions on Russian companies and individuals supporting and financing separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/14/us-ukraine-crisis-sanctions-kiev-idUSKBN0GE0YI20140814
August 13 – Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) has elected Metropolitan Onufriy of Chernivtsi and Bukovyna as the new Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine. He is considered moderately pro-Russian. Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) believes that he will not actively participate in inter-church dialogue. The head of Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kyiv Patriarchate) Patriarch Filaret believes that the dialogue on the unification of orthodoxy in Ukraine with the newly elected Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine (Moscow Patriarchate) may be unproductive.
August 13 – Supported by Russian military, on Wednesday night Russian “humanitarian convoy” was trying to break into the Ukraine, – said Deputy Head of Presidential Administration Valeriy Chaly. He reminded that last Friday Russia was planning an open invasion of Ukraine under the guise of a “humanitarian mission”. “Many countries have advised us to find a way not to fall into this trap. If Ukraine says that the “aid” will not be accepted, this may cause a full-scale conflict. And then this “aid” will arrive in a different way – with so called “peacekeepers” and armed convoy”, – explained Chaly.
August 12 – Russian humanitarian assistance convoy destined for the residents of East Ukraine has left Moscow oblast and while this activity wasn’t coordinated with the Red Cross, the convoy is travelling under the guise of the Red Cross. The convoy consists of about 280 trucks. Russians would like to cross over to Ukraine in their trucks. None of these trucks have been certified and has no permission to enter the territory of Ukraine, – said a spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council Andriy Lysenko. He demonstrated a video, in which Russian military equipment is being repainted white. Machinery being prepared by Russian military is machinery belonging to law enforcement agencies. Under international law, no law enforcement agencies have a right to accompany humanitarian convoys.
August 12 – Russia has violated the agreement with the Red Cross and has sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine without providing a preliminary list of what is in the trucks, – said the representative of the Red Cross International Committee Andre Loersch. According to him, a telephone conversation of Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko and the President of the Red Cross will take place on Tuesday – they will try to figure out “what is generally happening”.
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