Mick Ryan has taken seven trips into Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022. Because of Russia’s ever increasing terror campaign, the situation is more dire than ever.
Kyiv
After a recent trip to Ukraine Mick Ryan said, “Kyiv felt darker, and the people seem more fatigued than they have in any of my six other visits since 2022. The streets were physically darker at night and strewn with generators which were not present on my previous visits. Blackouts were more frequent and air raid alerts more common than I have experienced before.
The Russian strike campaign shapes the lives of everyone in Kyiv, as well as many other Ukrainian cities. For some, the solution has been to move out of the city. For others, lives are planned around when they are likely to have electricity. The Russian terror campaign, and it cannot be described as anything other than that, is the heaviest of the war. Shahed attacks alone have now reached nearly 300 per day across the nation, with ballistic and cruise missile attacks being conducted on top of that.”
From my first trip, December 18, 2023. A coffee shop in downtown Kyiv. Shops like these are targeted now.
The introduction of large numbers of Geran-4 turbojet Shaheds has complicated interception with many interceptors no longer fast enough for the challenge. This is an urgent development task for Ukraine, and in the meantime, Air Force aircraft are filling the gap to intercept drones. 
Add to this, the editor of the Kyiv Independent Olga Rudenko’s experience, “Today, we want to look to the future. It’s an exceptionally difficult time for Ukraine even compared to everything we’ve been through so far: Without much success on the front line, Russia is turning up its terror on Ukrainian civilians.
Living and working from Kyiv turns into a survival challenge, and it’s weighing on us mentally and physically.” If you love inspiring entrepreneurial stories, read her recollections on the birth of their publication, five years ago in November 11, 2021.
Scars
The Middle East war’s consumption of interceptor munitions, the Trump deal for Russian diesel, and the reports of American negotiators seeking business deals in Russia while undertaking diplomacy have left a scar on the Ukrainians.
The small glimmer of hope the Ukrainians might have felt earlier this year about the war is now dimmer. From Mick Ryan
John Herbst, a former American ambassador to Ukraine, echos Ryan’s view. He says,
“Russian, Ukrainian, and US negotiators will meet in Abu Dhabi for the first time in months, and observers are asking whether this suggests the prospects are growing for a negotiated end to Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine. The question is understandable, but only for those who ignore Russian President Vladimir Putin’s objective in Ukraine—establishing effective political control over the country—and his principal method for achieving that goal—undermining Western and especially American support for Ukraine.”
Is It Safe?
Jocelyn and I don’t plan to go to Kyiv this trip. In fact, being in Eastern Ukraine near the frontlines feels safer than Kyiv. That is a reversal since I started going in December 2023. Back then, Kyiv was largely untouched after the Ukrainian army repelled the Russians in 2022. People living west of Kyiv were much safer compared to Eastern Ukraine where we work.
One woman embraces another as she waits for her son to be rescued from under the debris, at the site of an apartment building hit during Russian missile and drone strikes Thursday in Kyiv. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)
There is no safe place in Ukraine today.
Russia has the upper hand in terror. Ukraine attacks oil refineries and warehouses, and Russia bombs schools, railways, food distribution centres, and hospitals.
I was in a conversation in Alberta recently and people thought the war was over because of “Trump’s peace deal.” We are not alone. Even people in western European countries can’t or don’t keep up with what is going on in Ukraine.
We will attempt to post stories on Facebook or on REVwords while we’re gone.
Our families, as well as Jocelyn and I, will appreciate your prayers. That’s not being melodramatic. As Jocelyn often answers when asked if it’s safe for us to be there, “Of course it’s not safe, but it’s good.” We’re no heroes. Ukrainians are.
She’s a good one. And so is God.
If you haven’t joined the conversation in awhile, please do today. We’d love to read your thoughts. Post your comment below. Thank you.
Hope grows here. We share stories that inspire people, build faith, and offer lasting purpose.
We’d love to have you Subscribe to REVwords. We’ll put helpful content into your inbox Mondays and Fridays.
