Please pray for the political, religious, and social conditions in Ukraine. The unrest has grown to frightening levels for some. Some fear a civil war, or a reprisal by the government that will injure and imprison many citizens of Ukraine. A new law makes it incredibly easy to punish and imprison people. As one friend said, simply sharing conditions like these publicly may result in imprisonment, expulsion from the country, the rejection of a visa to someone seeking entry. The new laws enacted allow trial in absentia of individuals, new mandatory laws of registration for Internet providers, and the registration of Non-Governmental Organizations as “foreign agents.”
The violence centers in the heart of Kiev, but their are rebellions across Ukraine. In west Ukraine, some of the government offices have been taken over by the opposition. The opposition to the current government is fragmented with no clear, decisive leader. It is just that the people have grown intolerant of the current government. The mood in Crimea is not as confrontational as in Kiev and some other cities, so our friends and coworkers are at relative peace against for the pain they feel for their country and countrymen. The Kiev government has a pretty tight hold on the governments and its institutions in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Please pray for God’s strength for the people and for peace to reign.