Winter's coming

'We will never allow anyone to build an empire inside the Ukrainian soul'

credit: Tymofiy Mylovanov

“What’s your superpower?” asks journalist Lindsey Hilsum. “I’m Ukrainian,” Vadym replies. Hilsum takes us into the trenches near the Russian lines in Donetsk in an unforgettable way. “This is how it will be all winter,” she says, “Inches of territory lost and gained.”

Lindsey Hilsum @lindseyhilsum

We were in the trenches with Ukrainian soldiers - and a kitten called Olenka. ‘If we win my children will live in freedom’ says Vadym. Then we came under fire…

Russian forces have reconvened near Bakhmut in Donetsk, but appear to be taking heavy casualties. Meeting in Bucharest, NATO heads this week pledged to continue support for Ukraine in its war with Russia “as long as it takes." Said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz:

Russia must not and will not win this war. It is equally obvious and clear, and we stand by that, that NATO itself must not become party to the conflict, for this would lead to an escalation with unforeseeable consequences for the planet.

U.S. Sec­re­tary of State Antony Blinken also encouraged leaders to increase West­ern sup­port for Ukraine’s power sec­tor, pummeled by Russian airstrikes across major cities.

Ukrainians are working to repair demolished buildings but are fighting cold temperatures and snow amid fuel shortages and outages. In Kyiv, a shopping trip for Tymofiy Mylovanov, a presidential adviser and president of Kyiv School of Economics, includes warm boots and a tent for use inside his apartment. He can’t find fuel so hunts for wood and coal, finding that shops use Christmas string lights instead of overhead fixtures to conserve power. Such ordinary moments amid extraordinary times are typical for city residents getting just a few hours of electricity a day. Underground, train stations have a “campfire feel,” said Mylovanov, with wood fires, tea kettles, and a measure of safety from attack.

President Volodymyr Zelensky hasn’t missed giving nightly speeches—and sometimes multiple speeches a day. In his late-night Thursday message to Ukrainians, he said: “We will ensure complete independence for our state. In particular, spiritual independence. We will never allow anyone to build an empire inside the Ukrainian soul.”

That day the government’s security council approved new steps in a crackdown on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is canonically linked to Moscow’s Russian patriarchate. Ukrainian security service officers say they’ve found evidence of UOC priests contacting Russian intelligence agents and owning literature that denies Ukraine’s right to exist. A new draft law, Zelensky said, will make it “impossible for religious organizations affiliated with centers of influence in the Russian Federation to operate in Ukraine.”

Each night and by lantern light, members of Ukraine’s National Philharmonic perform in Kyiv despite blackouts. Listen to Tuesday’s concert, captured by photographer David Guttenfelder.

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In other news around the world this week—

Uganda may have discharged its last known Ebola patient from a hospital, raising hopes that an outbreak which has killed at least 56 people could be coming to an end.

South Africa: President Cyril Ramaphosa’s days in office may be numbered over corruption charges stemming from a large sum of U.S. currency stashed at his farm. Ramaphosa won election after his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, went to jail on corruption charges.

Honduras has declared a state of emergency over gang violence, as working-class citizens say they are unable to go to work without being extorted by members of powerful street gangs MS-13 and Barrio 18. It’s the second Central American country this year to order a state of emergency to curb the gangs, following El Salvador.

Afghanistan: Germany has agreed to admit 1,000 at-risk Afghans, but a leading Afghan lawyer says it’s too late to get them out of the country. The U.S.-led coalition that went to war in Afghanistan has left tens of thousands of Afghan allies in increasing danger under a despotic Taliban, many now unable to escape.

• Yesterday on an evacuation call I attended, one organizer who has assisted Afghan families said he’s spent $200,000 in personal funds to pay for Afghan families stuck in safe houses since last year. They escaped to a neighboring country and are awaiting visas to countries where they qualify for asylum. “I can’t let them go back to Afghanistan,” he said.

Syria: A new report from the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need shows the number of Christians in Syria has fallen during a decade of war from 1.5 million to 300,000 today. Before the war Christians represented 10 percent of Syria’s population; now, 2 percent.

“What struck me the most was that our Christian brothers in the Middle East (Syria, Palestine and Iraq), the birthplace of Christianity, are now suffering worse than they were in the days of ISIS,” said the organization’s Netherlands director, Peter Broders.

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China may loosen its COVID rules after nationwide protests, but crackdowns on religious dissenters continue. On Nov. 25 a Hong Kong magistrate’s court convicted Cardinal Joseph Zen of failing to register a humanitarian aid fund. Hudson Institute senior fellow Nina Shea points out:

The cardinal’s real offense was dissenting from Chinese Communist Party repression. His real sentence, therefore, includes self-censorship and self-restraint from anything that might be construed as countering party ideology. It is a taste of much worse legal trouble ahead for the Church.

Global: A good explainer on how high interest rates drive crushing debt loads for the world’s poorest countries.

United States: The road to Thanksgiving started at a little church in Nottinghamshire where the Pilgrim Fathers received teaching that drove them later to board the Mayflower and to pen the oft-underestimated Mayflower Compact.

Outside the Babworth church with (l-r): church warden Peter Swinscoe, 93, me, church warden Clare Davis, 85, and my husband Nat

Personal note: Belz-dom is a harried place right now. My husband Nat is in a cancer battle with 8 weeks of chemo upon him followed by major surgery. Pray for him! And I covet your patience as I navigate this territory with him. It sets aside many of our plans, but we know is not unplanned by God. His people may walk in darkness, we’re reminded in Advent season, but we have seen a great light.