While all eyes are on the US invasion of Iran, Russia has intensified its attack on Ukraine using Iranian-made drones.
Russia has escalated its aerial campaign, using heavy barrages of Iranian-designed drones and missiles to attack urban centres such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa. In late March 2026, Russia launched almost 1,000 drones and 34 missiles in a single day, one of the largest attacks since the war began in 2022.
There is a good possibility that Easter will see an even greater attack.
How is that affecting Ukrainians?
In my three travels to Ukraine the war has shifted increasingly westward. When I was first in Ukraine in December 2023, Kyiv and western Ukraine were relatively untouched. In April 2024 the war spread further west and by the summer of 2025, there were no unaffected areas in Ukraine. Lutsk, in northwest Ukraine was relatively safe. While we were there the city was attacked multiple times overnight. Now the attacks have increased and are also occurring during the day.
This week we heard from two of our friends in Poltava.
Drones At Night
“We see the results of your prayers very strongly. The Lord is protecting us. The last few days have been very difficult because Poltava and Krivoy Rog came under attack. It was very loud. There are dead people. We heard drones flying and then there were explosions. The worst thing is that this always happens at night, when you are sleeping. They choose one city and start shelling and bombing. My wife and the boys were in Poltava and this happened there. I was in Krivoy Rog and there was shelling too.
But we are alive and continue to be strong. We are also greatly supported by the fact that we know that we have friends in prayer. We appreciate that very much.”
Vadim is a bishop in the Poltava area. He is the pastor of Yana, the young mum who was seriously injured a week ago while protecting her son during a drone attack. REVwords readers rallied to send $1500 to help with her extensive needs while her husband serves on the frontlines.
That’s a lot, eh? 
Shaheds At Easter
Vadim messaged us Monday morning about his own encounter with a drone.
“A suicide drone just crashed into the 9-story building next door. The explosion shattered the windows in our building. Tanya and I heard a very loud “moped noise,” and I asked her to open the balcony door so we could see where it was heading and make sure it wasn’t coming toward us. Five seconds later, there was an explosion, a huge flash of light, and another blast.
We’re sitting in the bathroom right now; there are still Shaheds flying over Poltava.”
Shahed drones are Iranian-designed, low-cost “suicide” munitions, primarily the widely used by Russia in the Russo-Ukrainian war. They sound like a high speed moped.
Three similar drones slammed into the neighbourhood where Jocelyn and I were staying last summer.
Russia is making so many of those drones it could easily launch 2,000 in a single night attack.
Attacks On Railway Trains
Starting late January, the Ukrainian state railway service implemented additional security measures following a Russian attack on a passenger train in Kharkiv Oblast that killed five people and injured two others. Since then, Russia has escalated attacks on trains. They became a daily occurrence.
Jocelyn and I travelled extensively on those trains in 2025.
Now, train passengers must be prepared for long delays, sudden route changes, and evacuating the train in the middle of the night because of a drone threat.
On March 22, the Kyiv Independent’s videographer Olena Zashko was traveling from Kyiv to the city of Dnipro on an electric train.
“The train stopped several times due to the threat of a drone attack. An hour and a half before our final destination, the train stopped again — Shahed drones were flying over it. We saw them being shot down around us and could hear the sound. We were told that this will go on for a long time. One of the railway power stations had been hit, and there was no electricity. So we had to wait for another train.”
The passengers were standing in the cold near the tracks when residents of a nearby village came to their aid. They opened their local community centre and it served as a shelter for the night.
Practically the entire train, so many people and children, were sitting inside this club, waiting,” Olena recalled. Eventually, another train arrived to take them to Dnipro — seven hours after their planned arrival time.
Easter in Ukraine
As Easter approaches, many Ukrainians will still travel — and adapt to delays, uncertainty, and moments like these. The urge to be with your family doesn’t go away when there’s a war.
And what about Easter in Ukraine? Ukrainians will dress up for this Sunday. They will sing joyfully. Vadim and pastors like him will preach about the empty tomb and the hope of new life in Jesus. Most likely, they will do this with the sound of sirens seeping through the walls.
Keep Ukraine in your heart and prayers this Easter.
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