Dr Paul Allen

The Story: Hundreds of people—including the dean of an evangelical seminary—were found massacred by Russian military forces in a suburb of Kyiv. The Background: Russian armed forces are accused of numerous war crimes—including murder, torture, and rape—as they were withdrawing from the Ukrainian suburb of Bucha. Evidence of the massacre was uncovered ​​on Friday, April 1, when hundreds of civilians in the city were found dead. According to multiple social media reports, the dean of the Slavic Evangelical Seminary in Kyiv, Ukraine, was among the murdered civilians. The body of Vitaliy Vinogradov, a graduate of the Kyiv Bible Institute and the Evangel Theological Seminary, was found on a street in Bucha. The total number of victims is still unknown. About 280 bodies were found buried in a mass grave in Bucha. Associated Press journalists also saw the bodies of at least 21 people in various spots around Bucha, some around a site that residents said Russian troops used as a base. Some of t...

At a Christian conference center in the mountains of northern Slovakia, staff members recently shifted from hosting local families for weeklong retreats to providing emergency shelter for refugees fleeing Ukraine for the foreseeable future. Pavel Sinko is an elder at a Baptist church in the Slovakian city of Lucenec and a coordinator for the conference center in Rackova Dolina through his work with the Christian organization International Needs. Lately, the needs have been great. Small Nation, Sudden Shelter A month after Russia invaded Ukraine, more than 3.6 million people have fled the war-torn country. Another 6.5 million are internally displaced inside Ukraine. Even as Ukrainians defy Russian attempts to capture their capital, Russian forces have inflicted relentless attacks. In the southeastern city of Mariupol, officials said a brutal bombardment killed at least 2,000 civilians and destroyed 80 percent of homes. Most refugees fleeing Ukraine have crossed into Poland, though many ...

The Russian invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine is a textbook example of an unjust war. None of the six basic criteria for a just war are met: possessing just cause, being the last resort, being declared by a proper authority, having the right intention, having a reasonable chance of success, and the end and means being proportional. Just cause Vladimir Putin claims that Ukrainian overtures towards the EU and NATO threaten Russian sovereignty and, therefore, invading and annexing Ukraine is a just cause. This is a very weak claim, to put it mildly. Ukraine has the misfortune of being geographically located between Russia and the EU. On matters of the economy, rational Ukrainians prefer to be allied with the prosperous and peaceful European Union (with all its moral and political defects) than with the autocratic, corrupt, and aggressive Russian Federation. Militarily, Ukraine is located between the military spheres of influence of the Russian Federation – which collaborates wit...

Very few people could tell you offhand why the name of Grozny is so potent in understanding the modern world, and specifically the Ukraine conflict. Here is a crude attempt to explain why that name matters so very much, why it is so often mentioned in Kyiv today, and why every Western policymaker needs to know it. The story begins with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, with the fragmentation of many territories in the North Caucasus. Out of this came the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, a mainly Islamic land that declared independence from the Russian Federation. The Chechen capital was Grozny, which in 1990 had a population of around 400,000.  In 1994, Boris Yeltsin began a war to reconquer Chechnya, which resulted in horrendous Russian losses, and rock-bottom morale. The Russians won some important victories, including the very bloody 1996 First Battle of Grozny, which inflicted disastrous damage on the city. Even so, Yeltsin was forced to agree to a ceasefire. In 1997, the C...

Simple Answer: No Then who are Magogo & Gog and why are people saying it is Russia attacking Ukraine? 1. Magog [May-gog] (Uncertain origin and meaning) (Genesis 10:2). Unspecified date. Magog was one of the sons of Japheth. His brothers were Gomer, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The book of Revelation (Revelation 20:8) states that Magog, together with Gog and Satan, will be destroyed by fire from heaven while doing battle against God’s people. The descendants of Magog (Ezek. 38:2), possibly a people who lived in northern Asia and Europe. The Jewish historian Josephus identified these people as the Scythians, known for their destructive warfare.  Magog may be a comprehensive term meaning “northern barbarians.” The people of Magog are described as skilled horsemen (Ezek. 38:15) and experts in the use of the bow and arrow (Ezek. 39:3, 9). The Book of Revelation uses Ezekiel’s prophetic imagery to portray the final, apocalyptic encounter between good and evil at the end ...

What is the religious dimension of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Is this a Religious War? He quotes a biography of Putin that discusses the Russian Orthodox Church and the concept of “holy Russia.”  From Fiona Hill and Clifford Gaddy, Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin (2015) [my paragraphing]: The Orthodox Church still comes in a package with Putin and the state, even if the modern presidential base of power is secular. In Putin’s system and formulation, it is Rus’ (Russia) that is divine (svyataya or holy). The president is certainly not divine or holy. The stress on svyataya Rus’ picks up on another older Russian Orthodox and tsarist tradition, where Rus’ refers to something larger than the idea of the Russian state and people and encompasses the entire Russian orthodox religious community. Before the Russian Revolution, citizens of the empire who were baptized as Russian Orthodox Christians were seen to be Orthodox (pravoslavnyy) and therefore Russian (russkiy), no matter wher...

Samaritan’s Purse is sending a medical team to Ukraine to be on the ground as the Russian military continues to attack the country. The U.S.-based charity, headed up by Franklin Graham, son of the legendary Billy Graham, has a wide range of ways it serves the community, but their disaster relief unit is a powerful witness of Jesus in action. Sending a DC-8 jet overseas, complete with 50 medical and non-medical staff, the team landed safely in Poland, and materials for the Emergency Field Hospital have been transported to Ukraine. “The Samaritan’s Purse team is now in the process of setting up the facility,” the charity said. “Based on recent assessments, it has been decided to increase the capacity of our Ukraine field hospital. We are planning for two operating rooms, with a capacity for 14 major surgeries or 30 minor surgeries per day. “There will be four wards, with 50 inpatient beds, and an emergency room that handles 100 patients per day. Also included are four intensive care uni...

Hillsong Kyiv’s senior pastor has spoken out as his city – and country – faces unprecedented attacks from Russia. Yuriy Ravnushkin, the lead pastor in Kyiv, posted the video message below to encourage Hillsong members, and the church in general, to how the church is coping during such a difficult time. After weeks of escalating tensions, on February 24, Russia orchestrated a military invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes to neighboring countries, while the capital of Kyiv is under siege and thousands are sheltering in any place of safety they can find. While posting the video update, Pastor Yuriy told those around the world that they are believing in God for their protection. “I want to give you an update on the situation in Ukraine right now,” Pastor Yuriy said. “First of all, I want to say that we are very united as a nation right now and the resistance is very strong. At the same time, the situation is very difficult because for the ten days we h...

A pastor in Ukraine is broadcasting an online service before the men go out to fight… Pastor Yuri Kulakevych of Peace Pentecostal Church in Ukraine is meeting in a bomb shelter this morning and zooming their service online before their men go out to fight and serve. Pastor Yuri said: “Let those who will be blessed with a stable online connection and electricity to see faces of our beloved, pray together, and be fed from above. After a short message, everyone will get back to his ministry. Deacons are already in the field. What is my Bible text for the sermon, you ask?  2 Cor. 9-10: Known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, poor, yet making many rich, having nothing, and yet possessing everything… ‘ Then they had this young woman play the violin from the bomb shelter in Kharkiv… I’m reminded of how many pastors and leaders have told me over the last two years, “Phil, I don’t mind putting our worship servic...

Russia has invaded Ukraine in an all-out assault.  Now the question for the West is whether we will get drawn into this war. President Biden had moved 3,000 of the 90,000 troops in Europe to Poland and Romania, countries that border Ukraine, hoping they would be a deterrent to Russian President Putin’s territorial ambitions.  That did not work.  So now President Biden is moving American troops and aircraft into the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which border Russia and which, like Ukraine, also had been part of the Soviet Union that Putin would like to reassemble.  Unlike Ukraine, though, they are members of NATO. Since all NATO members are obliged to come to the aid of any NATO member that is attacked, the Baltics and the American forces stationed there are a trip-wire for a war involving all of Europe and the United States. The NATO secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg of Norway, is warning that there is a “real risk” of “full-on” war in Europe...

Russia has invaded Ukraine. Who all gets involved and how all of this will play out, in the end, remains to be seen, but one thing is sure: the world is watching. That hasn’t stopped many from speculating if this will bring about another World War if China and Russia will collude, and if, God forbid, nuclear weaponry will be employed if others intervene, or even if the parties involved currently will use nuclear weapons. It’s understandable, in one sense, that these questions are raised. We live in a time where nations have the technological capability of amassing a body count like no other war before us. We all know of the propensity of mankind to commit great deeds of atrocity and the destructive powers they are capable of in their wickedness. History has shown us time and again that war is not only a constant threat, but it is an inevitable product of living in a broken, sin-filled world. We are the odd ones out in the history of mankind, where we have known relative peace for gener...