July 2, 2022

Praise Reports

Success

  • Snake Island – Russia bombed the island with burning munitions attempting to destroy the remainder of incredible amount of munitions and anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems they had abandoned there
  • Zaporozhia – Ukrainian M777 howitzers destroyed a Russian ammunition depot reportedly in Zaporizhia Oblast
  • Kherson – Ukrainian military destroyed Tor-M1 air defence unit and other equipment in an airstrike near Blahodatne village
  • Popasna – A large fire was detected today by NASA FIRMS (Fire Information Reaource Management System) southeast of Popasna and elsewhere we see video of a Massive explosion of reportedly a Russian ammunition depot in Popasna after being hit by precise Ukrainian strike.
  • Belgorod – Sound of big explosion reported in Yakovlevsky district of Belgorod
  • Kharkiv – Air defense reportedly shot down the missile in Kharkiv
  • Russian HQ – Ukraine is having success in targeting Russian command posts with American-provided HIMARs multiple rocket launch systems: senior U.S. defense official

Truth Revealed

  • Forced Mobilization – Mothers of forceful conscripts protested in Donetsk yesterday
  • War Crimes – Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba: Today, Ukraine submitted a major filing at the ICJ. We prove that Russia violated the Genocide Convention by justifying its aggression with a false pretext of a ‘genocide’ that never was. Critical step to hold Russia accountable and make Russia pay for the harm it has inflicted
  • Kremenchuk – U.S. believes Russia used an anti-ship weapon in its June 27 attack on Ukraine shopping center. “This is not a weapon that would have been optimized for accuracy:in an urban environment, so it’s another example of how Russia is using systems in a reckless fashion
  • Sumy – Russian army launched over 270 mortar mines and other projectiles into Sumy region yesterday. Woman wounded, material damage
  • Belarus – Lviv is preparing to counter a possible Belarusian offensive in West Ukraine to cut off western supplies
  • Russia Shortages – The Kremlin proposed an amendment to federal laws on Russian Armed Forces supply matters to the Russian State Duma on June 30, that would introduce “special measures in the economic sphere” obliging Russian businesses (regardless of ownership) to supply Russian special military and counterterrorist operations.[1] The amendment would prohibit Russian businesses from refusing to accept state orders for special military operations and allow the Kremlin to change employee contracts and work conditions, such as forcing workers to work during the night or federal holidays. The Kremlin noted in the amendment’s description that the ongoing special military operation in Ukraine exposed supply shortages, specifically materials needed to repair military equipment, and stated that Russian officials need to “concentrate their efforts in certain sectors of the economy.” Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely mobilizing the Russian economy and industry to sustain the ongoing war effort, but has not yet taken parallel measures to mobilize Russian manpower on a large scale. Russian Auto Manufacturers have decreased production by 97% while consumption of foodstuffs decreased by 10% and 39% of all Russians felt they did not have enough money for basic items while another 38% felt that they wouldn’t have enough for them by the end of the year.
  • Latvia – Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins has warned European and U.S. leaders not to succumb to “war weariness” as Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on, helping to drive energy and food prices higher around the world. Karins said leaders of countries that aren’t experiencing war first-hand can become “tired or less committed to aiding the country which is in need.”  He urged countries struggling with inflation to accept it as a small price to pay, as “Ukrainians are paying with their lives.”
  • Vladimir Kara-Murza – It is this truth that is being meticulously hidden from the Russian public. Since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion in February, more than 3,000 websites, both Russian and foreign, were blocked by the government censorship agency by early May for violating its order to only report “official information” — that is, the Kremlin’s propaganda message — about the war. More than 200 media outlets have been blocked or shut down altogether — among them Echo of Moscow radio, TV Rain and the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which have stood as the last major bastions of media freedom in Russia. (Novaya Gazeta’s editor in chief, Dmitry Muratov, was last year’s co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.) Of Parallel to his stuttering invasion of Ukraine, Putin has conducted a highly effective blitzkrieg against what remains of political freedoms in Russia, turning his regime from highly authoritarian to near-totalitarian almost overnight. As someone who now has to endure Orwellian “news” programs on Russian state television on a daily basis, I can judge for myself the skillfulness of the Kremlin’s propaganda machine, which successfully manipulates tens of millions. This is a point worth stressing — especially to those Western commentators who continue to play into Putin’s hands by uncritically repeating Kremlin claims of “overwhelming public support” in Russia for the war. The fact is that most Russians are not aware of the horrendous war crimes being committed by Putin’s forces in Ukraine. Propaganda is not the only reason; repression is another. Anyone who publicly criticizes Putin’s war in Ukraine could face arrest and years of imprisonment — as I now do under one of the hastily instituted new articles of the criminal code. There are already more than 200 criminal cases connected to antiwar protests or the “distribution” of antiwar information — and more than 2,100 cases under the parallel defamation clause in the code of administrative offenses. Those arrested or charged include journalists, lawmakers, mayors, artists, clergymen, teachers, police employees — and many others in Russia who refused to stay silent in the face of Putin’s aggression, even at the cost of near-certain imprisonment. In all, there have been more than 16,300 police detentions at antiwar protests across Russia since the start of the invasion.
  • Grain – Early on the morning of June 30, the Russian cargo ship Zhibek Zholy left the Ukrainian port of Berdyansk, carrying 7,000 tons of grain. The voyage was hailed by the local Moscow-appointed head of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region as “the first commercial ship” to leave the Ukrainian port after months of war, taking desperately needed supplies to “friendly countries.”
    But many analysts believe the cargo is likely to have been stolen from Ukrainian stores. They warn the fate of the contested grain shipment now threatens to poisonfragile talks over a permanent truce in the Black Sea, further denting hopes for peace and deepening the food crisis gripping the world. “This is a complete farce,” said Nazar Bobitski, the Polish Union of Employers and Entrepreneurs’ representative in Ukraine. “It’s extremely likely that the Russia will say ‘look, we can organize safe corridors for grain,’ but from the Russian-occupied ports — meaning that Ukrainian farmers will have to surrender the grain to the Russian forces in order to get transit.” Russia’s decision to launch the Zhibek Zholy on its voyage is typically provocative, and could have far-reaching consequences. It is due to dock in Turkey on the evening of July 1, putting the Ankara government in a potentially tricky position, too. As the war upends global commodity markets, countries in North Africa and the Middle East face supply shortages of wheat they would normally source from Ukraine. All commercial shipments of Ukrainian food products through the Black Sea have been stopped since the invasion began. The U.N. has warned that a hunger emergency could result. Turkey is setting itself up as an independent broker in talks between Russia and Ukraine aimed at safely reopening the sea lanes. But if Ankara allows the Zhibek Zholy to land its probably expropriated cargo, it will risk being seen in Kyiv as handling Vladimir Putin’s stolen goods. Ukraine had been looking to Turkey to provide security guarantees for shipping its grain through the Black Sea. Rather than turn the ship away, though, on Friday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appeared to have decided to embrace his potential role in the supply chain. “This is a complete farce,” said Nazar Bobitski, the Polish Union of Employers and Entrepreneurs’ representative in Ukraine. “It’s extremely likely that the Russia will say ‘look, we can organize safe corridors for grain,’ but from the Russian-occupied ports — meaning that Ukrainian farmers will have to surrender the grain to the Russian forces in order to get transit.” Russia’s decision to launch the Zhibek Zholy on its voyage is typically provocative, and could have far-reaching consequences. It is due to dock in Turkey on the evening of July 1, putting the Ankara government in a potentially tricky position, too. As the war upends global commodity markets, countries in North Africa and the Middle East face supply shortages of wheat they would normally source from Ukraine. All commercial shipments of Ukrainian food products through the Black Sea have been stopped since the invasion began. The U.N. has warned that a hunger emergency could result. Turkey is setting itself up as an independent broker in talks between Russia and Ukraine aimed at safely reopening the sea lanes. But if Ankara allows the Zhibek Zholy to land its probably expropriated cargo, it will risk being seen in Kyiv as handling Vladimir Putin’s stolen goods. Ukraine had been looking to Turkey to provide security guarantees for shipping its grain through the Black Sea. Rather than turn the ship away, though, on Friday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appeared to have decided to embrace his potential role in the supply chain. “We can supply or re-export wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other agricultural products to countries in need,” Erdoğan said at a press conference, according to the TASS Russian news agency. The Turkish president is ready to discuss the export issue during telephone conversations with Putin and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the agency said, adding that talks could take place any day. The situation leaves Ukraine in an invidious position. “Ukrainians have a very difficult balancing act: in this case, they don’t want to look like obstructionist, even when Russia is stealing their grain,” said Asli Aydıntaşbaş, from the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Russia’s entire game is about getting Ukraine to walk away from this grain export mechanism,” she said, “so the Russians can go and say they’re open to negotiations and a reasonable deal, but Ukrainians are not.” The stakes remain high. As commodity prices rise, driving inflation, Russia is blockading over 20 million tons of grain in Ukraine. Earlier this week, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi had raised hopes that an agreement on reopening the Black Sea shipping lanes was close, saying all that was needed was a final “Yes” from Russia. Ukrainian officials also signalled that the right security assurances from Turkey or another NATO country could unlock the flow of grain within days. These are calculations that are likely to weigh heavily in Kyiv, along with prospects for longer term peace. “They don’t want to ruin their relationship with Turkey, which isn’t only about grain exports,” Aydıntaşbaş said. “It’s going to continue to be a very important country for Ukrainians as long as this war continues. There is the understanding that at some point, Ukraine might need negotiations and that Turkey is a likely country to host these talks — for peace or ceasefire or localized ceasefire. It’s clear that Turkey is Russia’s preferred country to talk to, and now Ukrainians cannot afford to upset Erdoğan.” The West will be uneasy about Turkey accepting such shipments, according to Marc Pierini, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe. “It may also create difficulties for Turkey’s future role as an impartial facilitator for Ukrainian exports of cereals,” he said. Sait Akman, director of the G20 Studies Center at the Centre for Multilateral Trade Studies at Turkish Economic Policy Research Institute (TEPAV), said it seemed that Russia was trying to supply Ankara with grain that would “help reduce wheat prices in Turkey, a major item in the rising bread prices.” But there may also be a price. “Such a move by Russia will be challenged by Ukraine (and the West) which can claim that such shipments torpedo talks in opening a safe zone,” he said. “Such incidents can negatively affect Turkey’s critical role and credibility in securing protection to ensure [a] safe corridor through the Black Sea.”

Support

  • US – Pentagon announces $820M in additional security assistance for Ukraine. New weapons include: Ammo for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); 2 National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS); 4 additional counter-artillery radars and ammo. The HIMARS munitions in the new package announced today will come from U.S. stock, which can be sent relatively quickly. However, the NASAMS must be purchased, so it will take longer for them to be sent
  • Turkey – Ukraine requests Turkey detain Russian-flagged ship carrying Ukrainian grain. According to a Ukrainian official who spoke with Reuters, a 7,146-ton capacity Zhibek Zholy loaded the first cargo of some 4,500 tonnes of Ukrainian grain from Russian-occupied Berdiansk

Pray Points – Latest

  • Kharkiv – At Kharkiv direction Russian troops conducting assault actions at Kochubiivka
  • Lysychansk – Fierce fighting in Lysychansk, but the city is ‘not surrounded.’ Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces had “partial success” on the territory of the Lysychansk Oil Refinery and control the northwestern and southeastern portions of the refinery. Russian troops are likely trying to drive through the northeastern corner of the refinery in order to advance into Lysychansk proper from the refinery. Lughansk Governor Serhiy Haidai: “Fighting is going on all the time. The Russians are constantly on the offensive. There is no let-up. Absolutely everything is being shelled.” Ukrainian authorities said they were trying to evacuate residents from the city, the focus of Russia’s attacks where about 15,000 people remained under relentless shelling. Russian forces are trying to encircle the city as they try to capture the industrialised eastern Donbas region. Ukrainian forces will try to hold the line against Russian forces from the city of Lysychansk, buying time for the arrival of western weapons, said Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai. “They’ll achieve nothing in several days (in Lysychansk) like they’re saying (they will). The geography of (Lysychansk) is difficult. It’s very spread out. It has a private (residential) sector, there are nine-storey apartment blocks, it has drops, there are lowlands and there are rises.” He added: “Our task is to hold back the enemy as long as possible and to inflict maximum damage on them … As long as Russia’s army remains in one place, time is on our side. We will receive weapons from the west.” Haidai said western arm supplies were “helping” but are “far from the critical amount” needed.
  • Mykolaiv – Russian military launched 10 Onyx missiles at Mykolaiv this morning
  • Bakhmut – Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov noted that Russian forces around Bakhmut have a distinct advantage in terms of force and means.[15] Gromov stated that Russian forces are conducting operations towards Soledar, which lies just northeast of Bakhmut along the T0513 Bakhmut-Siversk highway, and suggests that Russian forces additionally seek to interdict Ukrainian lines of communication along the T0513.
  • Slovyansk – Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces unsuccessfully attempted to advance from Dovhenke to Mazanivka, which as ISW has previously assessed is a likely attempt to drive on Slovyansk from the west side of a series of reservoirs that run parallel to the E40 highway. Russian forces additionally fought in Bohorodychne and Krasnopillya, both northwest of Slovyansk along the E40 highway.
  • Kharkiv – Located 25 miles from the Russian border, Kharkiv has great strategic importance as the gateway to the east of Ukraine. Russia tried to conquer it during the first week of the war, sending columns of tanks and military police units towards the city. Apart from a short lull some three weeks ago, Russia’s relentless shelling of the city, coming mostly out of the Russian border town of Belgorod, never stopped, destroying more than 2,000 buildings and killing more than 900 civilians in the process, according to the regional governor, Oleh Synehubov. Over the last two weeks, the city has seen some of the heaviest bombardments since the start of the war, and there are fears among senior Ukrainian officials, as well as local military heads, that a renewed Russian offensive is looming. The Russians usually start with rocket attacks, then heavy artillery comes in, and then they move in with tanks and infantry. We see the first part already happening,” Andrey Mogyla, a Ukrainian soldier, said. Equally concerning, according to Mogyla, were the recent bits of intelligence from “western partners” that his team received, including satellite images that showed Russia massing new troops and military hardware on the frontlines near Kharkiv. According to Mogyla, about 100 army units, including 50 tanks and eight battalions, were moved there three weeks ago on the eastern side of Kharkiv near the Russian-occupied village of Shevchenkove.
  • Kherson – Russian military detained Kherson mayor Ihor Kolykhaev. Meanwhile Russian authorities continued to take measures to strengthen the economic integration of occupied areas into Russian systems on June 27. First Deputy Head of the Kherson Oblast Council Yury Sobolevskyi stated on June 26 that Russian authorities are opening the first branch of the Russian state-backed Promsvyazbank in Kherson Oblast. Sobolevskyi added that Russian authorities are distributing one-time 10,000-ruble payments to ”almost everyone” to foster economic reliance on the ruble economy. Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command additionally reported that Russian authorities in Kherson City are seizing banking institutions and issuing Russian salary cards to those working in enterprises that have been co-opted by Russian occupation authorities. Such actions are likely intended to force occupied areas to become increasingly reliant on the ruble, stimulating long term integration into the Russian economy.
  • Belarus – Ukrainian military intelligence reports Russian saboteur groups plan to blow up residential buildings in Mozyr city of Belarus to drag Belarus into war even as Belarusian Ministry of Defense continues “mobilization exercises” from June 22 to July 1 in Homiel region bordering Ukraine
  • Drones – Ukrainian forces have largely halted the use of Turkish Bayraktar drones, which were used to great effect earlier in the war, due to improvements in Russian air-defense capabilities. Ukrainian officials are reportedly increasingly concerned that US-provided Gray Eagle strike drones will also be shot down by reinforced Russian air defense over the Donbas.
  • 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.” 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.
  • 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.
  • Navalny – on June 21, 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.” In addition, two former US Marines from Alabama were captured near Kharkiv, Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 29, and the Kremlin has indicated they will treat them in the same way, as mercenaries.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Snake Island – Russia is spending a lot of resources to install anti-missile facilities and to protect paratroopers who are holding the island
  • 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