Ukrainian Pastor: It Is “Freedom or Death”
The crisis in the Middle East has shifted most of the world’s attention away from Ukraine as the war there drags on. February 2025 will mark three years since Russia launched an invasion intended to subjugate and finally claim Ukraine.
Although President Joe Biden has pledged to stand by Ukraine, his administration is ending soon, and America’s future foreign policy is uncertain. The U.S. is divided on the issue of Ukraine. Many Americans, who are critical of continuing to fund an expensive and seemingly endless war, are not as supportive of Ukraine as they were three years ago. Others argue that Russia must be stopped or its aggression will never end. For Ukrainians who are suffering the nightmare every day, giving up the fight is not an option. As one Ukrainian said, it is either “freedom or death.”
Sasha, (whose last name is withheld for his protection), is a pastor who leads Light of the Resurrection Ministry in Ukraine, and who has been writing to his friend Geoff Conner of Vidalia, about the course of the conflict and its toll on the Ukrainian people. His most recent letter was received on September 9.
Conner, a medical doctor who volunteers through American-based Discipling Ministries International (DMI) to render medical aid and other relief to the people of Ukraine, has been making regular mission trips to Ukraine for almost two decades, well before the latest Russian aggression. The mission group usually visits Ukraine twice a year, in the spring and the fall, but its last trip was in 2022 because of personal issues with the mission team, not because of the intensity of the war. A DMI team hopes to return again soon.
DMI first connected with Ukraine when Russia fell apart about 1992. DMI began work in Ukraine in 1993, and Dr. Conner was recruited about 10 years ago by a Vidalia pediatric nurse practitioner named Sam Oates. Dr. Conner and Oates were part of a medical team that augmented the mission work of DMI. Their job was to provide medical evaluations and medicine to the people of Ukraine through mobile clinics set up in the rural areas of the country.
Conner said he is often approached by area residents who have heard or read about Sasha and asked what has become of him. Conner and DMI members hear from Sasha every couple of months, so they stay abreast of his status and the work he and others are doing to help everyday people in Ukraine. In commenting on fears of how a new administration in American could affect the outcome of the war in Ukraine, Conner said, “There is a lot of talk about a new administration coming up with a compromise (to end the war). At the ground level every person I have asked about their feelings about this is that there would be no compromise. They (Ukrainians) are not interested in giving up territory in return for peace. It’s sort of like the, ‘Give me Liberty or Give Me Death,’ Americans felt (during the American Revolution). It is all or nothing with Ukrainians.”
Conner emphasized. “Ukraine is not an insignificant country. It is the bread basket of Europe.” Potentially, if Russia claims Ukraine, Russia could control a lot of fuel and food for Europe. I don’t see how the West could allow to this to happen. I don’t see how we cannot continue to support them, but there is nothing wrong with accountability and how the money (U.S. aid) is spent.”
Sasha, in his latest letter to his friends in the U.S., admitted that Ukrainians are war weary. “Yes, we are tired of war — morally and physically. In my village, almost every week, we bury men who gave their lives for the freedom of Ukraine. Our Christian friends bury their sons, husbands and fathers.
“Almost every day and night we do not sleep because of Russian air attacks. Combat drones, missiles and bombs fly over our houses in the literal sense of the word. Two nights ago, fragments of a combat drone fell very close to my house. There was a big fire.
“At this moment, when I am writing this article, not far from my house there were 12 loud explosions. A few days ago, an enemy missile killed a mother and three beautiful daughters in Lviv, leaving her husband and father in their inconsolable grief; and this happens every day and night in dozens and hundreds of cases through the destruction of churches, cities, the lives of adults and children.”
Sasha understands that for many Americans, the war in Ukraine is not top of mind, perhaps even irrelevant, in view of recent issues on the home front. “I am told that people in the United States are tired of the war in Ukraine. I am told that the United States has enough internal problems, both economic and political, in connection with the upcoming presidential elections in your great country, and Americans should not care about Ukraine at all,” Sasha writes.
He argues that, “The issue is much deeper than it seems at first glance. Russian state media constantly emphasize the theme that the main enemy for Russia is not Ukraine, but the United States. According to them, the United States is fighting Russia with the hands of Ukrainians. In their view, Ukraine is the prodigal son, and the main source of problems and threats for Russia is the United States.
“Therefore, U.S. citizens must accept as a fact that for today's Russia, the enemy number one is the United States, and in my opinion, if Ukraine loses this war, it will be not only a defeat for Ukraine, but also for the United States as a global leader. In my opinion, if Ukraine loses, Russia will go further and where it will stop is a big question.”
During the past summer, Sasha came into close contact with men like him who went to the Ukrainian Army mobilization center to comply with mobilization law and determine their status for military service.
Sasha relates this experience in his letter: “The men I spent this time with are ordinary people, mostly aged 45-59…farmers, workers, office workers, not quite healthy, but who voluntarily came and who are ready to protect our homeland – Ukraine. We talked a lot. All these men want to live, all are afraid of death, but each of those I met and talked to understand that the choice that faces us is freedom or death.” Sasha shared, “To be under Russia for me and these men means death, either physical or death of our dignity, and for the sake of freedom of Ukraine, for the sake of the lives of our wives, children, grandchildren, we are ready to go and protect our Motherland, despite our desire to live.”
Sasha says he remembers life in the Soviet Union too well and all the grief and repression that the Soviet/ Russian regime represented. “In my case it was the repression of my family for believing in God as part of the evangelical community. Faith in God under the rule of the communist empire was illegal and cruelly punished by the KGB.”
He noted, “As a Christian, I understand that a huge price was paid for my eternal freedom. The price of my personal freedom from the curse of sin, death, eternal punishment, was the voluntary sacrifice of God, the price of the painful death of His Son. It was the highest price paid for freedom in the history of mankind.”
Sasha writes that the war in Ukraine is a question of inner values for every Ukrainian. “Freedom for us has ceased to be an abstract and guaranteed concept; we have understood that freedom is a matter of personal choice for every Ukrainian. Freedom has a price that everyone is ready or not ready to pay. Freedom is not free, you have to pay a price for freedom — either yourself personally or someone else is now paying or has already paid their price.”
He says in his letter that based on his personal experience of communicating with people and simply observing what is happening around him, he sees a huge thirst for freedom and independence among those who remained in Ukraine and did not betray their internal values.
Sasha and his wife were among those who chose to stay and fight, and to do what they could for others who also chose to stay. “My wife and I made a firm decision for ourselves in February 2022. We will stay in Ukraine, no matter how hard it may be for us. Our decision to stay in Ukraine and serve the people around us was and is based on our inner values — the values of freedom. We have never regretted the decision we made then, although it can be difficult, especially for my beloved wife. You have to pay a price for freedom, and this freedom comes at a high price.”
Not every Ukrainian feels the same. Some fled the country three years ago because they were afraid of being drafted into the Ukrainian Army. Some say, even now that they don’t care what flag they live under; they just want the war to end. There are even traitors who work inside Ukraine on behalf of Russia. “Someone who ended up in the territory occupied by Russia is happy about low prices for motor fuel, good social benefits and the citizenship of Russia received. There are different people with different values and this is the sad reality of life. We are not a perfect society at all,” he writes.
Preserving national identity and achieving national unity are almost insurmountable objectives for Ukrainians who are constantly struggling to fight off the enemy while coping with disruption, death and loss.
Sasha’s words summarize the ongoing chaos. “The Russians are destroying our energy system, which is why we are without electricity most of the day, and a cold winter awaits us ahead. My friends buried their father and grandfather a few days ago in Kyiv, because during his operation, a missile attack damaged the power lines and due to the lack of electricity in the operating room, he died. These examples are not an attempt to evoke pity or emotion, but simply a description of the daily realities of our lives.”
Sasha says that over time, many Ukrainians have changed their views of some Western institutions and some Western governments. “We see the uselessness of the UN. We see the impotence of the International Red Cross in protecting the rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war, and many other examples can be given regarding other international institutions. We see the weakness and dependence of some Western and other governments on Russia's resources.”
He and others who share his values feel that “the Western world, represented by weak institutions and governments, is losing to Russia and to the countries that support it, which could ultimately become a fatal catastrophe for the entire Western world.”
Sasha says, “We are grateful that Ukraine's Western partners are helping us, but we understand that the size and limitations of this aid only give Ukraine the opportunity not to die immediately, (and) do not give us an opportunity to defeat the satanic evil of Russia.”
He insists that Ukrainians like him realize that if Western aid with weapons is stopped, all of Ukraine will be captured by Russia. “The fact that Ukraine is still alive is a miracle. Look at the size of Ukraine and Russia and compare these (countries) on a world map. This is a David and Goliath situation.”
Sasha professes that he and many other Ukrainians are grateful for hundreds and thousands of friends in the USA. “These are people who pray, understand, sympathize… people who live by values and declare them not in words, but by the example of their lives. This is the real America, strong and great, and for me as for a Ukrainian, it is a great honor to know you and to be a bearer of the same values. God bless America! God save Ukraine!”
About DMI
Discipling Ministries International (DMI) is a 501C3 organization that ministers to people through God’s word, and through support of medical clinics, pastors, churches, rehabilitation centers, children’s day care and orphanages. DMI pastors and medical teams have served in all of the regions being attacked by Russia. Some 23 years of DMI’s missions were spent in Doneskt and Luhansk regions which have been under Separatist control since 2014. (disciplingministries. org)
“Freedom for us has ceased to be an abstract and guaranteed concept; we have understood that freedom is a matter of personal choice for every Ukrainian.”
— Sasha, Ukrainian Pastor
