Ukraine: The Stats are Grim, but God is Good

September is back-to-school month in Ukraine, and on the first of the month Awana distributed backpacks with school supplies to children in need, including the Awana kids (pictured) in the Kherson region of Ukraine. 

Three weeks later, September 21, a Russian missile hit a hotel in Cherkassy injuring 11 people. This hotel is just two blocks from the Awana Ukraine refugee center, where so much of the activity we’ve shared with you through these updates has taken place 

This, and the stats* we share below, are the state of affairs in Ukraine. Everyday people try to go about their daily lives at work, school, home and church. And everyday there are air raid sirens, missile strikes and casualties of war.

• According to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 78% of Ukrainians have relatives or friends who have been killed or wounded.
• According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 9,083 civilians have been killed and almost 15,800 wounded. (Real numbers are much higher as these do not account for those killed and wounded in occupied territories.)
• According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, 494 children have been killed and at least 1,051 children have been wounded.
• According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 6.33 million Ukrainians have fled Ukraine as refugees and 5 million Ukrainians have become internally displaced (nearly 50% of refugees and IDPs are children).
• According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the number of documented war crimes committed by the Russian army has exceeded 96,000.
• According to British intelligence, Russia has fired more than 10 million artillery shells to attack Ukrainian territory.
• According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, 29% of the territory of Ukraine (67,000 square miles) has been polluted with mines and explosives.

This information is, no doubt, very grim. But, if you’ve been following our updates, you’ll see that God has not forgotten the people of Ukraine nor has He failed to work in them — through you! — during this time.

In fact, because of your generous financial contributions to Awana Ukraine and your prayers, He is bringing more people to Him than was taking place before Russia invaded Ukraine. Praise and glory to Him.

Please continue to keep Ukraine in your prayers. Pray for protection, peace and provision. Pray especially for children impacted by trauma (which is really all the children of Ukraine). And please continue to show your support through donations and encouraging messages to our Awana leaders and children there. Thank you! 

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*Stats compiled by our friends in leadership at the Ukrainian Evangelical Theological Seminary. They are actively involved in serving those impacted by the war and are preparing their students to pastor and counsel those in Ukraine — everyone — impacted by trauma.