Ukraine
Story of Nikita: A Ukrainian Boy’s Dream in a Frontline Village
Growing Up in the Shadow of War Nikita is nine years old, and he lives in the small Ukrainian village of Mykhailivka, where the war is not something you see on the news but something you feel in everyday life. Here, the echoes of explosions are often heard in the distance, evenings pass without electricity in darkness broken only by candles or flashlights, and air raid sirens slice through the silence to remind families that the front lines are not far away. For Nikita, this has become part of his childhood-not the childhood he would have chosen, but the only one he has known, like so many other children in Ukraine who are learning to grow up in the shadow of war. On the day when Russian aerial bombs fell on Zaporizhzhia, Nikita was standing near his yard, looking up at the sky. He heard the adults speaking in tense…
Story of Eva
Eva Korniychuk lives in the small Ukrainian town of Korosten. Since the first days of the war, her father has been serving in the army. For a long time now, there has been no such thing as “peaceful time” in Eva’s life. Every morning she wakes up with the same prayer-for her father, for his fellow soldiers, and for Ukraine. Eva goes to church and likes to help with everything. She helps with the youth group, sings on the worship team, and sometimes organizes games for the teens. But in her heart there had long been one question. At night, when she closed her eyes to pray, Eva often said: “Lord, I’m still a child… can You use me? What can I do for You and for other children during this time of war?” The answer came unexpectedly. During one youth meeting, the group leader shared something special. Mission Eurasia was…
Victor
Living in a war is terrifying, and going through it alone is incredibly challenging. Victor knows this firsthand, as he has to hear with daily explosions in his crumbling house. Ever since his wife died, his once cozy home has gradually transformed into a place that barely resembles the welcoming place he used to return to after a hard day. Despite that, Victor stays home, unable to part ways with a place that holds countless cherished memories. In the war-torn village, life progresses from one shelling to the next, leaving Victor in constant uncertainty about the danger he will face each day. A rocket’s devastating impact recently struck his garden, causing irreparable damage to his home. There are now cracks in the walls, and the chimney isn’t working. With no other alternative, Victor continued to heat his stove. All the smoke stayed inside, making the house look worse, and causing…
Olga
A bomb exploded 50 meters away from Olga. The blast wave threw her into the hay barn where she was going to tend her cow. One piece of shrapnel grazed her head without causing serious injury. Later, the woman found several other large pieces of shrapnel nearby. It was a miracle that Olga remained alive and almost unharmed. During the war, living in an active combat zone in the Zaporizhzhia region, Olga saw many terrible things: a neighbor whose leg was torn off, an explosion in a barn that killed three cows, at every turn she came across unexploded cluster bombs and many pieces of shrapnel. She can already tell the difference between explosions and knows how to know the next one is coming – but even that doesn’t always help her take cover in time. “I’m afraid to see my house destroyed,” the woman explains why she doesn’t want…
Anna and her Family
As a young girl, Anna studied at Kyiv University but always dreamed of living in her hometown of Kramatorsk. She shares, “I knew I would want to have my family in my hometown.” So, after I returned home, I started doing what I love the most – working as a manicurist. It was there that I met my future husband, Misha. We got married and started our family business – a salon where he worked as a masseur.”The couple had two children, Emilia and Yan, and were so happy! They had a special tradition on Saturdays. Anna would go with the kids to the pool, and then they would all go to their favorite pizza place where Misha would already be waiting for them with a huge smile and pizza on the table.However, their happy life changed in February 2023. Their hometown turned out to be close to the frontlines…
Story of Sasha
Olga, 32, and her two daughters, Sasha (almost 3) and Nastia (17), lived in Mykolayiv, Ukraine. Like most families, they woke up to the war early on February 24, 2022. Olga, her daughters, her husband, and her parents saw the horrors of the war on the first day, as Mykolayiv basically became the frontlines. Russian tanks were close to the town a few days later. Olga’s parents are older people who both have disabilities, which made it impossible for them to evacuate. They needed special transportation for that, which was impossible to find. So, the decision was made for Olga’s husband to stay at home with the parents, and for Olga to leave with the girls. They made it to the evacuation bus that went to Poland. Four days later, they were in Krakow. Nastia was a huge help to her mother and little sister in Poland, as she had…