June 22, 2022

Praise Reports

Success

  • Izyum/Slovyansk – Russian operations along the Izyum-Slovyansk axis are increasingly stalled as Russian forces prioritize operations around Severodonetsk.
  • Popasna – at Myronivka-Semyhiria direction Ukrainian military repelled an assault towards Vuhlehirska power station, also repelled an attack at Molodizhne-Katerynivka direction
  • Lyschansk – Ukrainian military repelled assault towards Vysoke
  • Snake Island – on Monday, Ukraine had reported that they had scoured the rocky island with missiles attempting to clean it of any Russian presence and today their is satellite confirmation
  • Kherson – Warehouse with ammunition exploded between Kyselivka and Chornobaivka, Kherson region
  • Rostov – Novoshakhtinsky refinery caught fire in Rostov region after drone attack

Truth Revealed

  • Dvornikov – Several sources are additionally reporting contradictory claims about replacements for the current Southern Military District Commander—and overall commander of the Russian invasion of Ukraine–Army General Alexander Dvornikov: Russian reserve officer Oleg Marzoev claimed on June 21 that Russian military officials will soon appoint General of the Army Sergey Surovikin, the current commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, as commander of the Southern Military District (SMD), effectively replacing current SMD Commander Alexander Dvornikov. Investigative journalism group Bellingcat it was due to his excessive drinking and lack of trust among Russian forces. Ukraine’s Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) reported on June 19 that Putin replaced Dvornikov as the commander of the Ukrainian operation with Colonel-General Gennady Zhidko, the head of the Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces. If these varied reports are all accurate, former Aerospace Forces Commander Surovikin has replaced Dvornikov (who may have been forced to retire) as commander of the Southern Military District, but Zhidko has been appointed commander of Russian operations in Ukraine, despite not directly commanding Russian combat troops in his permanent role. The appointment of a separate commander over the Southern Military District, and the replacement of the commander of the SMD in the middle of major combat operations, is a drastic step that would speak to severe crises within the Russian high command, and possibly a purge by the Kremlin. Such drastic rotations within the Russian military, if true, are not actions taken by a force on the verge of a major success and indicate ongoing dysfunction in the Kremlin’s conduct of the war.
  • Estonia – The senior Estonian civil servant said there had been “multiple border violations by helicopters” from Russia over the past week. And missile attack exercises by Russia have been revealed to target Estonia.
  • Russia Disinformation – The May intelligence bulletin from the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security says the Kremlin’s influence arm has focused Russian influence operations that are targeting American audiences almost entirely on the war in Ukraine. Russian state media and proxy information operations are working to paint Western support for Ukraine as the reason the war is dragging on so long, and the reason there is a growing food crisis. Never mind the fact the conflict and grain export problems exist because Putin chose to invade Ukraine in the first place. “Outlets claimed… that Western nations prolonged the conflict by sending military aid to Ukraine,” reads the intelligence brief, which focused on Russian information operations in May. “Outlets claimed that Western actions were causing global food prices to soar.”
  • Atrocities – Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said its staff has seen evidence of a “shocking level” of “indiscriminate violence” being inflicted on civilians in Ukraine. The medical charity, which set up a hospital train in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, said it had seen an “outrageous” lack of effort to spare and protect civilians caught up in hostilities. Between 31 March and 6 June, more than 650 patients were medically evacuated by train from war-affected areas in eastern Ukraine to hospitals in safer parts of the country, it said in a statement. More than 40% of the wounded on the train were elderly people and children.
  • Gas – Europe needs to prepare immediately for Russia to turn off all gas exports to the region this winter, according to the head of the International Energy Agency, who has called on governments to work on reducing demand and keeping nuclear power plants open. Fatih Birol said reductions in supplies in recent weeks which the Kremlin has attributed to maintenance work could, in fact, be the beginning of wider cuts designed to prevent the filling of storage facilities in preparation for winter, as Russia seeks to gain leverage over the region. “Europe should be ready in case Russian gas is completely cut off,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times. “The nearer we are coming to winter, the more we understand Russia’s intentions. “I believe the cuts are geared towards avoiding Europe filling storage, and increasing Russia’s leverage in the winter months.”
  • Finland – Finland’s armed forces chief, Gen Timo Kivinen, said his country was prepared for a Russian attack and would put up stiff resistance in the event that one should occur. Finns are motivated to fight and the country has built up a substantial arsenal, Kivinen said in an interview. He said: “The most important line of defence is between one’s ears, as the war in Ukraine proves at the moment.” Finland has maintained a high level of military preparedness since the second world war, having fought two wars in the 1940s against its eastern neighbour, with which it shares a 810-mile border. Kivinen said: “We have systematically developed our military defence precisely for this type of warfare that is being waged there [in Ukraine], with a massive use of firepower, armored forces and also airforces. Ukraine has been a tough bite to chew [for Russia] and so would be Finland.”
  • Party of Silence – From the very beginning of the invasion, Sergei Sobyanin did not want to be associated with a “special operation,” sources close to the presidential administration (AP) and the Moscow mayor’s office told Meduza. However, in mid-June, Sobyanin came to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum (SPIEF) and  signed a cooperation agreement with the prime minister of the self-proclaimed DPR, Vitaly Khotsenko. And before that , he visited Lugansk, where he signed a similar document with the head of the self-proclaimed LPR, Leonid Pasechnik. Three Meduza sources close to the Presidential Administration said that Sobyanin did not really want to go to the LNR, but “changed his mind” after meeting with Vladimir Putin. The president allegedly had to “talk separately” to the mayor and “order the trip.”
  • Sailors Mothers – The Kremlin is failing to deter the family members of sailors that survived the sinking of the Moskva from issuing an appeal against the deployment of surviving conscripts to the war in Ukraine as of June 20.[7] Russian opposition outlet Novaya Gazeta published an appeal from the parents of the surviving 49 conscript crewmembers of the Moskva, demanding that the Military Prosecutor’s Office in Sevastopol, the Committee of Soldier’s Mothers, and the Human Rights Commissioner immediately terminate the crewmembers’ deployment. The appeal states that Russian commanders did not send the surviving conscripts home from their deployment following the sinking of Moskva and that they will be recommitted to hostilities on June 30. The appeal noted that the survivors refuse to participate in further assignments due to psychological distress and are currently stationed on the old ship Ladnyi, which the appeal claims is unfit for combat. The Ukrainian Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) previously reported that Russian forces have threatened the families of Moskva sailors with criminal prosecution and nullification of any financial benefits to prevent them from speaking out against Russian operations.
  • Russian Military – Russian forces continue to face force generation challenges and are committing unprepared contract servicemen to the invasion of Ukraine. The BBC’s Russian service reported on June 20 that new Russian recruits receive only 3 to 7 days of training before being sent to “the most active sectors of the front.” The BBC also reported that volunteers within the conventional Russian military, Rosgvardia units, and Wagner Group mercenaries have become Russia’s main assault force, as opposed to full conventional military units. ISW has previously assessed that Russian units in eastern Ukraine are suffering from poor complements of infantry, slowing their ability to seize urban terrain.

Support

  • Germany – German self-propelled howitzers have arrived in Ukraine in the first delivery of heavy weapons promised by Berlin, Ukraine’s defence minister said on Tuesday. “We have replenishment!… The German Panzerhaubitze 2000 with trained Ukrainian crews joined the Ukrainian artillery family,” Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on social media. Germany pledged in May to supply Kyiv with seven self-propelled howitzers, adding to five such artillery systems the Netherlands has promised. Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s president’s office, posted a list of other weapons promised by Germany, including 30 Gepard tanks and three MARS II multiple rocket launchers, as well as 500 shoulder-fired Stinger missiles.

Pray Points – Latest

  • Lyschansk – Russian forces are successfully advancing toward Lysychansk from the south rather than making an opposed river crossing from Severodonetsk, threatening Ukrainian defenses in the area. ISW previously forecasted that Russian forces would seek to attack toward Lysychansk from the south to negate the defensive advantage that the Siverskyi Donets River would grant Ukrainian defenders opposing a direct assault from Severodonetsk. Russian forces appear to be securing such an advance and will likely attack the outskirts of Lysychansk within the coming week. This Russian advance is a clear setback for Ukrainian defenses in the Severodonetsk-Lysychansk area, but Russian forces will likely require further protracted battles with Ukrainian forces similar to the block-by-block fighting seen in Mariupol and Severodonetsk in order to capture Lysychansk.
  • Belarus – Belarusian Ministry of Defense announces “mobilization exercises” from June 22 to July 1 in Homiel region bordering Ukraine
  • Mikolaiv – Russia launched 7 missiles at Mykolaiv
  • BRICS – The meeting of the main countries that either tacitly support Russia is scheduled for tomorrow in China. Brazil, India, China and South Africa.
  • EU – How to summon today that because of the states of the European Union will determine whether to receive Ukraine to membership candidate status.
  • Weapons – Pray for the German, French and Italian leaders today to bring to Kiev heavy weapons and not pressure to concede to Russian demands.
  • Mariupol – Mayor Vadim Boychenko, the administration said “more than 100,000 people who still remain in the city do not have access to drinking water. Currently, the occupiers provide it once a week.  Residents stand in line for 4-8 hours.  They are on the verge of death.  This is a humanitarian catastrophe.  Therefore, we must do everything possible to open a green corridor and save people,” the mayor said. He added that Russians and “collaborators” had also restricted residents’ access to food.  “At the same time, the city is left without gas, light and drainage system.”
  • Severodonetsk – Russian forces have taken Metyolkine the southeast suburb. Russia was sending a large number of reserve troops to Severodonetsk from other battle zones to try to gain full control of the besieged eastern city, the governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region said on Sunday. “Today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, they will throw in all the reserves they have … because there are so many of them there already, they’re at critical mass,” Lughansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said, even as Putin has made it clear that taking Severnodonetsk and Lyschansk is the most important goal they are re-positioning massive amounts of tanks and armored personnel carriers along with artillery to a point about 40 km to the east preparing for another push. But this is at the cost of the forces around Kharkiv closer to the Donetsk. Thousands of civilians, including women, children and elderly people, are trapped in Severodonetsk with a diminishing supply of food, clean water, sanitation and electricity. An urgent situation is developing in the bunkers beneath the Azot chemical plant in the city, a UN spokesperson said. About 500 civilians believed to be trapped alongside soldiers inside Azot were preparing to flee the city through a possible humanitarian corridor. Serhai Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has said “Fierce battles are fought for every house” in Severodonetsk, as Russia continues its attempts to capture the city in eastern Ukraine. The last bridge connecting Lyschansk with the city has been destroyed and now all communication has been cut off with the defenders, particularly those in the Azot chemical plant where hundreds of civilians are sheltering, the region’s governor said on Saturday, after a Russia-backed separatist claimed 300 to 400 Ukrainian fighters were also trapped there. Ukraine has said some 800 people were hiding in several bomb shelters underneath the plant, including about 200 employees and 600 residents of Severodonetsk. Ukrainian lines are holding despite intense Russian artillery fire but that it was now impossible to evacuate people. About 10,000 civilians remained in the city. Governor Haidal: “Silence in Severodonetsk lasts only when guns are reloaded. Street fights continue in the regional center. Russians adhere to their primitive tactics: heavy artillery fire, then – attempts to break through. The same thing happened in the already destroyed Rubizhne and Popasna. The enemy is powerfully pursuing the industrial zone, which we control. If we quickly get western long-range weapons, an artillery duel will begin, the (Russia) will lose to the west, and our defenders will be able to clean up Severodonetsk in two or three days. Evacuation from Severodonetsk is still impossible, as is the transportation of goods. Currently, the hospital has everything necessary to stabilize the wounded.” He has also again emphasized that “Russians do NOT control the Lysychansk-Bakhmut route, but constantly storm it. We do not use this road.”
  • Izyum/Slovyansk – Russian forces continued to prepare to advance on Slovyansk from southeast of Izyum and west of Lyman. Right now Ukrainian forces are likely conducting a counteroffensive northwest of Izyum intended to draw Russian forces away from offensive operations toward Slovyansk and disrupt Russian supply lines and are making minor gains.
  • Russian Navy – Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command additionally reported that Russian forces are restructuring their naval grouping to include more submarines, which is a likely response to successful Ukrainian attacks on Russian naval assets in the Black Sea.
  • Logistics – Ukrainian forces and aviation continued to strike Russian logistics and fortifications in occupied settlements along the Southern Axis, with localized fighting ongoing.
  • Zaporozhia – Russia is repositioning forces to reinforce the front here.
  • Kryvyi Rih – retributive missiles strikes here
  • Navalny – on Tuesday, the Russian opposition leader has been moved secretly prison IK-2 in Pokrov, 100km to the northeast of Moscow without notifying any of his people or supporters of where he is being taken. Alexei Navalny said in May that he could be transferred to the maximum security colony IK-6 in Melehovo in the Vladimir region. “My sentence has not yet entered into force, but the prisoners from the strict regime colony Melehovo (another 150 km further to the east) write that they are equipping a “prison within a prison” for me,” Navalny said.
  • Casualties – Approximately 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia’s invasion of the country in February, according to a military adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy. He added that the daily numbers of Ukrainian casualties were around “200 to 300 die, no less.”
  • Donbas – Shelling continues incessantly
  • POWs – Occupation authorities in parts of Donetsk region of Ukraine sentenced POWs, Britons Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48 and citizen of Morocco Saadun Bragim to death. All three were charged under the articles of the Criminal Code of the DPR “Forcible seizure of power or forcible retention of power” and “Mercenary”. According to Alexander Nikulin , presiding in the court, the convicts pleaded guilty to all charges. They have a month to appeal the court’s decision. All three intend to appeal. One of the lawyers for the convicts, Pavel Kosovan , said that, most likely, foreigners would ask the head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, for a pardon. UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, has said the men are entitled to combatant immunity as prisoners of war. “The judgement against them is an egregious breach of the Geneva convention,” Truss said. “The UK continues to back Ukraine against Putin’s barbaric invasion.”
  • Artillery – “Everything now depends on what [the west] gives us,” said Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence. “Ukraine has one artillery piece to 10 to 15 Russian artillery pieces. Our western partners have given us about 10% of what they have.” Ukraine is using 5,000 to 6,000 artillery rounds a day, according to Skibitsky. “We have almost used up all of our [artillery] ammunition and are now using 155-calibre Nato standard shells,” he said of the ammunition that is fired from artillery pieces. “Europe is also delivering lower-calibre shells but as Europe runs out, the amount is getting smaller.” Skibitsky emphasised the need for the west to supply Ukraine with long-range rocket systems to destroy the Russian artillery pieces from afar. This week the Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych told the Guardian that Ukraine needed 60 multiple-rocket launchers – many more than the handful promised so far by the UK and US – to have a chance of defeating Russia.
  • Izyum – increased efforts by Russia to move toward Slovyansk and the key transportation routes that keep the east supplied. Russians have now advanced to the southwest outskirts of Bohorodychne.
  • Mariupol – Now there is a major outbreak of cholera as the officials of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) continue to fail to provide the residents of Mariupol with basic social services or quality-of-life assurances. Advisor to the Mayor of Mariupol Petro Andryushchenko stated that DNR authorities are unable to provide water, humanitarian aid, or medical services to residents and that corruption amongst DNR collaborators is further complicating the situation. Head of the DNR Denis Pushilin stated that his priority is restoring the school system in Mariupol despite continual administrative failures to provide even the most basic food and water services.
  • Kharkiv – continues to face intermittent bombardment that targets civilian infrastructure.
  • Negotiations – Negotiations with Russia will only resume after new weapons arrive from the west and Ukraine’s position is “strengthened”, said David Arakhamia, a member of Ukraine’s negotiation group with Russia. Another negotiator, Mykhailo Podolyak, said there was no point in talks with Russia until Moscow’s forces are pushed back as far as possible towards Ukraine’s borders.
  • Negotiations – Representatives of the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom have been meeting regularly over the past few weeks to discuss a plan to end the war in Ukraine through negotiations. In particular, according to the interlocutors of the TV channel, the Italian plan was discussed. Ukraine does not directly participate in these discussions, which contradicts the statements of the US authorities – “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” At the same time, as emphasized, the United States does not put pressure on Ukraine, insisting on a certain plan, and does not push it to negotiate with Russia.
  • People of the West – pray that they rise up against their governments and demand they back Ukraine with more than words and do NOT negotiate with Russia, giving Putin land for grain or a ceasefire, rather than a military tribunal for him and the other war criminals.
  • Lughansk – the occupiers do not have control of the Lysychansk-Bakhmut route, but they are shelling there, so Ukrainian defenders and volunteers are looking for other ways to deliver supplies to the Ukrainian-controlled territory of the Luhansk region.
  • Ukrainian Prisoners of War – There are about 8,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war held in the Russian-backed self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, the Luhansk official Rodion Miroshnik has said.
  • Unity – there are movements beginning with Ukraine to begin to blame various people and parties for Ukraine’s situation, attempting to create division calling for various people to be charged with corruption, rather than waiting till after the war. Former president Petroshenko’s party in retaliation for the difficulties he’s had leaving the country to negotiate with the Lithuanians last week, has called for an investigation into why Zelensky and his party did not prepare better for the invasion.
  • Melitopol – there is a huge partisan movement among the people in this reason and they have taken out many railroad bridges and trains.
  • Ruble – the Russian currency is surging to 7-year highs, that although artificial indicate that funds are flowing into Russia rapidly (as Europe attempts to refill stockpiles and India and other companies take advantage of discounted oil) meaning that Russia is being kept afloat.
  • Italy & Germany – have set up ruble accounts with the EU’s blessing to circumvent sanctions and pay for Russian gas
  • EU – Hungary continues to block a true oil embargo
  • IMF – The head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, has said the war in Ukrainehas darkened the outlook for the global economy and could result in recession for more vulnerable countries and predicted that 2022 would be a tough year and declined to rule out a global recession if conditions worsened markedly.
  • Zaporozhia/Kryvyi Rih/Kherson – Shelling continues as the Russians attempt to move forward and Russia has blocked all exit from these regions as people line up at the borders
  • Kherson – Russia is stopping humanitarian aid from reaching hundreds of thousands of people in the region of Kherson, Ukraine said. Doctors could run out of medicine for chronically ill patients in two weeks, a Ukrainian official said. As they implement a ruble zone here it only increases the lack as people do not have rubles to purchase the need supplies.
  • NATO – Even as Finland and Sweden apply to join along, Turkey continues to veto it even as negotiations continue.
  • Russian Navy – Russian Navy – All operating submarines of the Russian Black Sea Fleet went to sea from Sevastopol as seen by the fact that they are targeting military installations in Lviv
  • Fuel – Russia continues to strike fuel refineries and stores (including in Lviv yesterday) destroying its Ukrainian production capacity and fuel tanks, continuing to create dangerously low availability of fuel, meaning much of Ukraine’s economy and food supply could be affected, but also the military and humanitarian aid distribution.
  • Food – prices soar 60% as India, the world’s second largest producer, blocks exports due to low harvest from heat wave. Pray for the world food supplies as Wheat make up 15% of all the worlds calories consumed. And much higher for impoverished countries. Ukraine produces 7% of the worlds wheat and Russia 11% meaning 3% of the entire food supply for the world is cut off, and again a much higher percentage for developing world. While corn makes up 19.5% of global calories and Ukraine produces 2.6% and Russia with 2.3% of world supplies, meaning a further decrease in 1% of the world calorie intake for a total between wheat and corn of 4%. A response to this is that “the Russian invasion is a large shock for agricultural commodity markets, but not historically large. Markets and trade patterns will adjust to absorb it. Farmers around the world will produce more and consumers will cut back or substitute. The transition may be difficult in some places, especially countries such as Egypt that typically rely on wheat from Russia and Ukraine who must be helped to find alternate suppliers. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has warned of “a hurricane of hunger” if Ukrainian grain is not exported. The world’s 41 least-developed nations import a third of their wheat from Ukraineand Russia. Soaring food prices have already driven inflation levels in Egypt to the highest level since mid-2019.
  • Russian Military – trying to create panic among the Ukrainian civilian population and to disrupt the supply lines in the rear, but has minimum success on the battlefield.
  • Mines – Almost half of the territory of Ukraine needs humanitarian demining – this is about 300,000 square kilometers, according to the State Emergency Service. Every day, an average of 2,000 to 6,000 explosive items are seized and rendered harmless in the country. One day of active hostilities is equal to 30 days of demining. For example, it will take about a year and a half to clear mines in the Kyiv region, where the fighting lasted a month. “Spring is coming, overgrown with grass, and in a week explosive devices cannot be installed visually, only devices. A few months later, due to rains, they sink underground to a depth of 3-5-7 centimeters, they are not visible at all, but they are still working,” the minister said. (As a sign of what supernatural resolutions can be possible, but during the Vietnam War, the United States strategically placed mines in North Vietnamese waters area that were set to detonate when a ship was in close proximity. In August 1972, a large number of these magnetic mines simultaneously started exploding. Upon investigation, the US found out that the cause of these explosions, which were estimated to be as many as 4,000, were not enemy ships. As it turned out, the culprit was a powerful historical series of solar storms with an extreme solar flare, solar particle events, and geomagnetic storm components hit the Earth.)
  • Testing the West – multiple alternative narratives are being focus-grouped by politicians – Like assuming Russia taking half of Ukraine is a done deal. Or turning Ukraine into Cyprus – divided state with Chinese soldiers occupying
  • Narrative – probing attacks from many directions in the media and with politicians continue as they attempt to discover a way to distract, divide or dissuade support for Ukraine and for Russia’s total expulsion from Ukraine and for Russian government to be held accountable. Continue to pray for solidarity and truth and those in occupied territories who are suffering and/or have been deported will be heard and not forgotten or abandoned.
  • Social Media – Russia’s online trolling operation is becoming increasingly decentralised and is gaining “incredible traction” on TikTok with misinformation aimed at sowing doubt over events in Ukraine, a US social media researcher has warned.
  • PTSD – they are seeing that those fleeing the Russians are holding on for about 10 days and then face complete mental breakdown.
  • 6 Russian Key Objectives to Pray Against
    • Kharkiv – Destroy, Encircle, Capture
    • Izyum – push south to encircle Donbas
    • Slavyonsk and Kramatorsk – in the east to complete a smaller encirclement of the cities
    • Mariupol – completely destroy all opposition and export the populations
    • Zaporozhye – Russian troops are building up forces and building logistics a massive concerted attack
    • Kherson – Russia is facing sabotage from the people but is still attempting to push north toward Kryvyi Rih and west toward Mykolaiv, then to Odessa and to Transnistria and eventually to Moldova.
  • Occupied Conscription – there is much evidence that Russia is desperately attempting to catch and conscript any and all able men in the occupied regions of Izyum, Kherson & Zaporozhye and force them to fight for them.
  • Deportations – Russia has deported over 750,000 people from Ukraine to Russia. 134,000 of those from Mariupol alone.
  • Mercenaries – Continue to pray for all mercenaries to be neutralized in any way!
  • Logistics – Russia logistical challenges are still problematic even though the supply lines to the Donbas are shorter, and much will depend on the condition of the roads and railways.
  • Refugees – now 6.5 million have fled Ukraine. Pray for their safety, provision and care.
  • West – pray that the pressure would continue to mount on western leaders to ban oil and gas imports and to continue to increase meaningful heavy arms donations.
  • Russia – pray that the emotional need to make a huge statement and reaction to the sinking of Moskva will lead to Russia moving prematurely and without adequate preparation and coordination and thereby dooming their own assault. Or to make a move that so steels international resolve that it makes supporting Russia impossible even for China and India.
  • Russian People – pray they understand the Truth and reject the lies they’ve been told and rise up
  • US – pray that Lend/Lease gets fast-tracked and raise on the House floor and approved today
  • China – has doubled down and the Russian propaganda and refused to admit the atrocities were committed by Russia or any other point

Pray Points – Continued

  • Ukraine – Almost two-thirds of Ukrainian children have fled their homes, the UN says. About 4.8 million out of 7.5 million children had to leave their homes, said Manuel Fontaine from UNICEF. He confirmed the deaths of 142 children, but added that the number is “almost certainly higher”
  • Economy – Ukraine economy to contract 45.1% this year, Russia 11.2%: World Bank
  • Rage – Pray against rage as videos have come to the four about Ukrainian soldiers summarily executing Russian soldiers. Although they can obviously feel incredibly justified, this is destructive to them and provides ammunition to Russia their attempt to create an alternative narrative in Ukraine.
  • Russian Military – Russia is sending an 8-mi long convoy of 100s of vehicles, including armored vehicles and artillery southbound through the Ukrainian town of Velykyi Burluk. The convoy is moving about 60 mi east of Ukraine’s 2nd-largest city of Kharkiv, as Russian focuses on Donbas. Russian Ministry of Defense claims destruction S-300 SAM at Chuhuiv airbase and Starobohdanovka in Mykolaiv region. Also claimed destruction of National Guard base in Zvonetske of Dnipropetrovsk region
  • TRUTH – pray that an ever-increasing steady stream of the atrocities committed by the Russians will be revealed and documented to maintain the ever-increasing pressure on political leaders and parties to act with speed, vigor and determination.
  • Russian Lies – pray that all their various alternative narratives would be revealed as rags and shadows for all to see.
  • Evacuation & Panic – Ukraine has urged civilians to leave the east of the country “while the opportunity still exists” before a massive Russian military assault that it expects in the coming days. The governors of the Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk regions were calling on people to move immediately to safer areas. “It has to be done now, because later people will be under fire and face the threat of death. There is nothing they will be able to do about it.
  • May 9 – Reports are that Putin needs the invasion successful in time for the Victory Day parades, thereby threatening great attacks over the coming month. Putin would want to have an “announceable success” by then, which could create “some tension” with Russian commanders as exhausted forces were likely to be thrown into battle fairly soon in an attempt to gain ground in Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv. This also is at the end of the 30-day default negotiation period (ending on May 5) meaning incredible pressure is on Russia to achieve victory by then.
  • Europe/US – pray they will block all gas imports and provide truly meaningful military support.
  • Oil – Pray that Europe would have the political will to do a complete embargo of Russian fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal, etc.)
  • Occupied – Many villages completely cut off from all supplies and food and water!
  • Global Food – there could be a global food crisis as Ukrainian farmers are being forced to limit what they plant due to the war. And also due to the fact that the main ways that they have a reaching global markets through the Black Sea is now blocked by Russia. Russia and Ukraine together produce 25% of all green in the world!
  • Refugees – According to Polish border guards, more than 2.4 million people have fled Ukraine to Poland . However, supplies have dropped off and now the whole regions are struggling.
  • For the Weak – Russia has flown more than 300 air sorties over Ukraine in the past 24 hours: senior U.S. defense official
  • Russian Elites – to turn on one another and on Putin
  • Russian Military – continuing to press in the north, but the real danger is that Russia seems to preparing for an all-out push in Donbas to encircle the Ukrainian army and to take the entire region and to create a united front against Ukraine.
  • Russian Soldiers – pray for their physical, emotional and spiritual well-being and for them to have the courage to face the Truth and the opportunity to receive the Gospel which is the ONLY answer to the atrocities they’ve already committed.
  • Russian Opposition – that those in the inner circle will see a way out and that Russian Opposition would be able to gather together in a meaningful way
  • The Truth – In all things that the Truth would be painfully evident and unavoidable in all public discussion
  • Ukrainian Army – Russia is attempting to encircle the Ukrainian Army in Donbas
  • Russia – for the people to wake up to the Truth and rise up
  • Putin’s Inner Circle – to fragment and turn on one another
  • Protection of the Weak
  • The West – to not grow numb to atrocities, but be compelled to action
    • Sanctions – Loopholes would be closed and sanctions rendered effective
    • Oil Embargo – That Europe would make the choice to stop immediately at the very least paying for gas & oil
    • Heavy Weapons – provide planes, tanks, heavy artillery and high-altitude weapons

Prayer Strategies

  • Corruption & Domination Falls
    • Russia, Belarus & Ukraine
    • The Former Soviet Union
    • China, India, UAE & Saudi Arabia
  • Truth & Freedom prevail
  • The Gospel is spreads like wildfire
    • From Ukraine
    • To Russia
    • To the whole world

Prayer Encouragement

“Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!”  — Andrew Murray