{"id":1813,"date":"2017-05-16T13:08:51","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T18:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/?p=1813"},"modified":"2017-05-16T13:08:51","modified_gmt":"2017-05-16T18:08:51","slug":"report-10-may-16-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kachelman.com\/ukraine\/blog\/2017\/05\/16\/report-10-may-16-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Report #10\u2014May 16, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Slavyansk Memorial to those killed by Russia’s invasion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Slavyansk, Eastern Ukraine<\/p>\n

4 June 2014<\/p>\n

It was on June 4 2014 that Russian military forces invaded and began aggressive battles to take Ukraine. Bridges that would allow the army of Ukraine to cross rivers were destroyed leaving the immediate sections of the east vulnerable. This was not a battlefield by accident. It was a calculated maneuver. It was strategically chosen. The position taken by the Russians was ideal for battle. Opposition would find the rear approach impossible and the frontal approach would be possible only by crossing a river and then moving on\u00a0upward incline that offered no protection because what buildings were there\u00a0had been\u00a0decimated. In military logistics there was no cover for an advancing opposition. Plans had been drawn up months before the Sochi winter Olympics brought the world\u2019s eyes to Russia.<\/p>\n

A friend of mine is a Colonel in the Special Forces of Ukraine. He sent five of his elite soldiers to join the forces gathering to meet the Russian troops. Because the bridges had been destroyed the forces of Ukraine were being airlifted via helos. At this point the Russian media was denying its army was involved and that the conflict was only a \u201ccivil war\u201d between pro-Russians and Ukrainian nationalists. But it was a lying propaganda. As the forces of Ukraine were advancing missiles struck a number of the Ukrainian helos. Among those struck was the aircraft transporting my friend\u2019s 5 spec forces. They were blown apart in the sky. The question was never answered as to how the \u201cSeparatists\u201d were able to secure the advanced weaponry\u2014it was ignored and the lost lives were disrespected.<\/p>\n

The Ukrainian military engineers quickly constructed a bridge that allowed the Ukrainian army to advance. The Russian forces had advanced and settled into a hospital complex in the town of Slavyansk that provided an ideal environment for defensive security and aggressive onward assaults.<\/p>\n

But underestimated or simply ignored was the resolve of Ukraine\u2019s troops. When the temporary bride was finished enough to allow transports the crossing began. So did the artillery and tank barrages from the Russian positions. Buildings were targeted and destroyed. All that lay before the Ukrainian army was defenselessness in a wide open field.<\/p>\n

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Sign warning of land mines planted by Russia’s invasion troops<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Russia supplied the weaponry, supplies and \u201csome\u201d troops. The majority of the troops under Russian command were the \u201cSeparatists\u201d from Donetsk and Luhansk. These were no more than street thugs and anarchists who delight in destroying. The firepower of Russia rained down on the advancing Ukrainian troops but did not stop it. The Separatists turned and ran. The Ukrainian army advanced. A detachment of Ukrainian airborne successfully cut off the retreat back to Russia so the only way for the feeling Russian Separatists was to Donetsk City. There they remain but over the three years they have viciously turned on one another with gunfights, car bombs and elevator bombs exposing the true reality of anarchy\u2019s control.<\/p>\n

The battle of Slavyansk was won by Ukraine but it was at a steep cost. Too many young lives were lost. Too much destruction and decimation occurred. An entire area was obliterated and three years later the remains of a once strong building complex is only crumbling shells of structures that once bustled with activity. The hospital once was the center where human life could be healed but now it stands as a somber monument to the needless destruction of human life as anarchy reigns.<\/p>\n

In the above photos you see a memorial in Slavyansk to those who died in the battle with Russia. It is set on a hillside that faces the approach used by the army of Ukraine. The black soil of Ukraine is dotted by red poppy blooms. A granite monument stands in the midst of the poppy\u2019s explaining the monument and listing the brigade who lost so many.<\/p>\n

In the three years since Russian invaded and occupied portions of eastern Ukraine over 10,000 have been killed and most of these are civilians (mainly women and children). Over 3 million have been displaced.<\/p>\n

The tyranny of anarchy is always ruin and devastation. Anarchy promises freedom but it is in reality only a harsh enslavement to the moment\u2019s passion and the fiercest emotions. Anarchy never brings good.<\/p>\n

God has commanded mankind to respect laws and follow the restrictions of divine absolutes. When one begins to think he knows better than that which God\u2019s commands, that person has become a spiritual anarchist and his life will face an inevitable doom. The prophet lamented the destiny of the anarchist centuries ago by saying, \u201cI know, O\u00a0Lord, that a\u00a0man\u2019s way is\u00a0not\u00a0in\u00a0himself, nor is it\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0man\u00a0who walks to direct his steps\u201d (Jeremiah 10:23).<\/p>\n

The somber silence of Slavyansk resoundingly exposes the tyranny of anarchy.<\/p>\n

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Anarchy destroys and decimates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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To counter the allurement of anarchy we simply need to say, \u201cSpeak,\u00a0Lord, for Your servant is listening\u201d (1 Samuel 3:9). Follow only God\u2019s revealed Word.<\/p>\n

To resist the control of anarchy in your life commit these words to your decision-making matrix, \u201cI have been\u00a0crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but\u00a0Christ lives in me\u201d (Galatians 2:20).<\/p>\n

Continue praying for our efforts during this trip. Tomorrow I leave on a night train going to Kyiv and will eventually arrive in Odessa on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

John L. Kachelman, Jr.<\/p>\n

Zaporozhye, Ukraine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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