These are some of those who are the enemies of Putin.
Against these he points his missiles, guns, tanks and all the machinery of war.These are they against whom his tirades and rants are aimed. They occupy his every waking thoughts. He will not sleep or rest until these dangerous and war-like people are annihilated. His soldiers who fight them indiscriminately are not that much older and they could be their brothers.
But Putin wants them dead because those young lives and thousands of others are a big threat to the stability of Russia.
He has already succeeded with Elisie Ryaboukon. He would have been 14 in May. Back in March, the Russian soldiers gave permission to the people of his village, near Kyiv, to leave. They waved them good bye and wished them luck. Then, as they were crossing a field, the same Russian soldiers opened fire from all directions. Elisie, that great threat to the entire Russian nation, was shot and lay dead.
Putin must be proud of himself.
Then there is Daniil Avdeenko who was injured in a Russian mortar attack. Six-year-old Daniil lived in the northern city of Chernihiv, which had been surrounded and bombarded by Russian forces.
Daniil and his parents were injured in mortar shelling just outside their home in a residential neighbourhood. Taken to hospital, an operation removed shrapnel pieces in his head. As yet they can’t operate on his legs where there are multiple injuries and fractures. It would be far too painful to do.
He may never walk again but he smiles because in the hospital he feels cared for.
Putin can feel safe now that he has taken out another enemy.
Finally, there is 13-year-old Ilya Bobkov who managed to escape with his family from Bucha just outside Kyiv, which was under Russian control for weeks. The family fled through a humanitarian corridor which, initially led them to a run down building in Kyiv.On 24 February when the fighting started, Ilya said, “I was shocked. I had expected it to be a regular day, I’d go to school, do my homework and play games. My mother came to my room and told me to pack a few things. Then we started living in our basement. It was very scary. It was hard to get through the nights.” He is totally traumatised and will bear the psychological scars possibly for all his life.
Once again, though, Putin can feel the strong taste of success along with the metallic taste of blood. His brave soldiers, do his bidding and the children are neutralized. He can breathe a sigh of relief.
The United Nations estimates that about two thirds of Ukraine’s 7-8 million have been displaced.
What a wonderful strategy by Putin. He is guaranteed a lasting place in history!
Elisie, Daniil, Ilya. Killed, wounded, hounded.
Merciful God,
comfort and console those who get in the way of war
and suffer the most – the women, the children, the old ones –
who are wounded and killed,
orphaned and widowed,
and left homeless and hungry.
Touch your children with compassion
that we might respond swiftly and well
to the needs of those who suffer;
we pray this in the name of Jesus our Lord
who for love of the human race, suffered on the Cross
and opened the way to a new life where all are equally loved
cared for, protected and valued.
Amen
Some of the material comes from a BBC News report,
edited and reproduced with gratitude for their careful and courageous reporting
which puts their reporters in grave danger but who nevertheless are faithful
to their calling and to the truth.
[Mr.G.]
Mr G's Ponderings 