How Kyiv became too dangerous to live in

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This summer, we managed to take a short holiday. The first in four years. It was very special for our family to escape from the reality of war.

In recent years, we haven’t even been able to think about rest, unfortunately. The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine put us in a survival mode due to the crazy pace of life. Every day life was dominated by constant missile, drone, and ballistic strikes. This meant endless meetings, many people with needs, organising humanitarian aid, church ministry, and running the seminary. And all of it merged into a constant stream of tasks from which we couldn’t break free.

## Cosy place It all kept building up until, at some point, we realised that the level of fatigue and stress was unsustainable. We needed to switch gears.

At first, we thought about travelling to the sea for a week. It would undoubtedly be calmer somewhere in the south of Ukraine, closer to the Moldovan border, and there are no constant drone or missile attacks in that region. Within a few days, we had found a nice, cosy place and were already planning the trip.

However, on the day we should’ve been leaving, one of our students, who serves in the army, arrived in Kyiv. As always, we kindly offered him a place to stay at the seminary during his time in the city.

By God’s providence, it turned out that he was from the region where we planned to go for our holiday. In one of our conversations, we casually mentioned our plans to travel to his home area. Hearing this, he became somewhat uncomfortable. I immediately asked what was wrong.

Mines

He told us that it was very dangerous there. Though he lives there and the sea is nearby, he hasn’t swum in it for several years. The problem is that the waters are full of naval mines. Waves eventually bring them closer to the shore and bury them in the shallow sand, making them completely hidden and invisible.

The student shared that just a few weeks earlier, two of his fellow servicemen went for a swim, and one stepped on a mine like that. Of course, he died immediately, and fragments of his body had to be collected from all over the beach. The other man standing next to him was also killed.

After hearing about this terrible incident, we cancelled our trip to the south. But since our bags were already packed, we decided that if we didn’t go somewhere now, we might never dare to go anywhere at all.

Mountains

We decided to hop into the car and drive further towards western Ukraine, into the mountains with no air raid sirens. On our way, we looked online and found a cheap little house deep in the mountains, which we rented for a week.

When we arrived, it took us a couple of days to get used to the peace, silence, and picturesque mountain landscapes. But the most powerful remedy for our stress was the quiet nights without sirens. You could go to bed in the evening and wake up in the morning.

By the third day, we felt that we were finally starting to catch up on sleep. We had more strength and energy. We felt like living again. Our two-year-old son also started sleeping better, fussing less, and eating better. At some point, we remembered again what life can feel like when there is no constant fear and anxiety.

In Kyiv, that is no longer possible. Even when a night passes quietly without drone attacks, you are always alert subconsciously, flinching at every sound at night. On that deep subconscious level, you are always tense. Especially when you realise that at any moment a ballistic missile or a rocket fragment could strike, destroying several floors or an entire apartment block, as has already happened more than once.

## Give up After a week of rest, we realised that we could no longer continue living in such stress in Kyiv. But what should we do next? Should we move? And if so, where should we go? Should we give up everything? Could we leave the ministry, the church, the seminary?

Before leaving for home, we began to pray and ask God for wisdom and even the most minor signs to understand what we should do. I must admit, the Lord was very generous with His “signs.” A whole chain of circumstances and people clearly indicated that it would be better to leave Kyiv before the winter.

But probably the most convincing “sign” was yet another attack on Kyiv on the very day we were driving back home. More than three hundred drones overwhelmed our air defence, and then ballistic missiles followed one after another. During the interception, one of the rockets once again destroyed an entire entrance of a residential high-rise building. Many people were killed, just a few kilometres from our own flat.

## Paralysing When we arrived in Kyiv, we knew we would be leaving. We decided to go farther west, perhaps to Uzhhorod or Mukachevo, because there were hardly any air raid sirens, and there had only been a few drone strikes throughout the entire war.

But although we had already come to terms with our decision to move morally, at the same time, the thought of leaving everything and everyone behind was unbearable and simply paralysing.

Then, at some point, I came up with an idea. We could leave Kyiv, but remain in the area. I began to check the statistics of drone, missile, and ballistic strikes in the villages around Kyiv. I discovered that ballistic missiles had never once landed there. Everything is aimed at Kyiv. And because in Kyiv, ballistic missiles are shot down at low altitudes, the fragments also fall within the city.

In these villages, drones had hit only a few times during the entire war. Of course, it is not an ideal option with complete silence, but this was an excellent compromise. Living there would allow us to sleep peacefully without fear that a ballistic missile would destroy our apartment block. Still, at the same time, we could remain in the ministry without abandoning everyone and everything.

New reality

Within a week, we moved to a small town just 15 kilometres from Kyiv. Of course, the new place has its own difficulties. Before, we lived a three-minute walk from the seminary. Now, we have to sit in long traffic jams to and from Kyiv every morning and evening, which takes 2–3 hours daily. In addition, there are occasional problems with the water supply in our new house. In short, the logistics of life have become much more complicated.

But despite all this, we can live and sleep much more peacefully in our new place, and this has immediately affected every other area of life. All the current everyday household problems pale in comparison to how much better we started to feel outside Kyiv simply because several key stress factors were removed.

Overall, we are incredibly grateful to God for this difficult but necessary decision. One way or another, we are in place; we continue to live and serve the Lord where He has placed us.

To Him be the glory!