I've been following this war from day one. Every single day pouring through the articles, pictures, posts from friends, news sites and more to stay as educated and on top of what is going on.
I've shed tears. I've grieved. I've raged. I've posted on here and on my Facebook wall.
I've tried to keep people informed. I've tried to be a voice. I've tried to share what I know to raise awareness, support and prayers.
I've seen terrible pictures over the last 30+ days. I've read about horrible atrocities. I've watched shocking videos.
But yesterday.
Yesterday.
Yesterday the cacophony of stories and pictures and video came from so many different directions I could not sift through it all.
The whole region of Kyiv was liberated from the Russians over the last few days.
That should be cause for great rejoicing.
My friends who were forced out of their homes can go back.
The Russians did not make it into Kyiv.
The Ukrainians "won."
Yet I weep.
I am at a loss for words.
What they left behind is unspeakable.
Bodies are everywhere. Not just one or two. Hundreds. People in civilian clothes. Men. Women. Children. Whole families in cars trying to flee. People shot trying to get away on their bikes. All dead.
This is not some history story from the past.
These people were killed a few days ago. A week ago. In the last 5 weeks.
Bodies in the basements. Unable to get out for food - they starved to death.
What they did to those living is just as horrific.
As the living emerge from the basements and hiding places, the stories pour forth.
The rapes. Children being forced to watch.
Men taken, tied up, tortured and then killed. I've seen pictures. I want to vomit.
They treated the civilians of these cities like a sick video game - shooting to maim. Shooting to kill.
Mass graves.
City after city.
They left Kyiv but left behind sick "presents."
They left piles of their bodily functions everywhere.
They booby trapped toys. Dead bodies. anything. Everything.
They mined the roads.
They destroyed countless homes.
Schools. Churches. Hospitals. Businesses.
They took everything they didn't blow up. Everything. From refrigerators to TV's to pots and pans to clothes and jewelry and everything.
I could go on and on and on.
Kyiv region is freed but the Russians are not gone.
They have only moved.
They are centering their forces along the eastern part of Ukraine.
Their desire is to capture those areas and then move in from that direction.
But just to keep it lively for them - they continue to bomb. Here, there everywhere.
To scare. To destroy. To break the will of the people.
To keep the Ukrainians from taking their full force to the east too.
It's not over.
It's far from over.
It's unleashed evil.
And we sit here in America watching and grieving and shouting and crying and praying and wanting it to end but feel so helpless.
I say I am sorry to my friends over and over and over again.
They are too.
There are just no words for this.
They left Kyiv region but are still in countless other cities and villages across Ukraine. Maiming. Killing. Raping. Stealing. Torturing.
When will it end?
Who will come to the rescue of the Ukrainian people?
When is enough enough? When do we acknowledge as a nation, as a people, that evil must not be allowed to run rampant?
Please keep praying for Ukraine.
Pray that God will hear the cries of the people. That He will give comfort in their distress.
Pray for an end to this evil.
Pray that our leaders and the leaders of Europe will do the right thing.
