Ingrid Woodbridge: Lives Left Behind: 10 Ukrainian Women in War and Peace

In 2013, a revolution started in Kyiv, Ukraine, that impacted and forever changed the lives of the women in this story. In November 2013, the president of Ukraine pursued closer ties with Russia rather than signing the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement. This sparked major demonstrations in the streets of Kyiv and led to the Maidan Revolution in 2014. Over 100 Ukrainians lost their lives in one day in Kyiv. Russia’s annexation of Crimea happened in March 2014; severe unrest followed and the war in Eastern Ukraine started in late April 2014. The regions of Donbass and Lugansk, where these women are from, were taken over by the Russian-backed separatists. [1] To gain a better understanding of the events, I recommend the Netflix Documentation: Winter on Fire.

The separatists harassed and threatened Elisey Pronin, the senior pastor of the largest Baptist Church in the Lugansk region of Eastern Ukraine; the separatists burned down the Baptist church in August 2014. Elisey is now the pastor of the new Disciples Church in L’viv. His book, Chronicles of Undeclared War , describes the tragic events and how it affected his city, his congregation, and the individual church members. [2] Elisey Pronin, Chronicles of Undeclared War (Odessa, Ukraine: Takibook, 2017).

The women in Lives Left Behind are all connected. Most of them lived in the same city, Pervomaisk, in Eastern Ukraine and attended the Baptist church there. Interestingly, they all found their way to L’viv, Ukraine to start a new life and are now members at Disciples Church, a church plant started in 2016. The women’s lives are connected, even though their experiences are vastly different. Their stories are fascinating.

Rita, Oksana, and Viola experienced their own dangers when the conflict started, but the bond between the grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter is stronger than ever. Sisters, Lena and Vika, were separated from their parents when the war started. Olya and her mother, Galina, never returned home from vacation. Ruslana helped Olya in Sunday School, and married Anton during the conflict while living in a camp for internally displaced peoples (IDP). Veronika sang in the church choir and saw the faithful example of her parents, Sergei and Valery, serving in the church. She ended up in L’viv via Poland on her escape from war-torn Eastern Ukraine. And Marina, from Crimea, left the area with her family just in time, finding her way to L’viv in amazing, yet often stressful ways. She shares the stories of her new friends at Disciples Church with a unique touch – fleeing from Russia with love.

Besides the city of L’viv and the church plant Disciples Church , one other connection is important to point out. All these women’s lives are connected somehow to Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary (UBTS). Oksana’s husband and Viola’s dad, Elisey Pronin, graduated with his master degree from UBTS in partnership with Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC, and works at UBTS as director of the church planting program. Rita is proud of her son-in-law. Olya is the administrative assistant to the Academic Dean. Ruslana is a graduate of UBTS, as is her husband Anton. Vika works in the finance office of the seminary, and Lena is a student in the international mission program. Veronika’s husband Arthur was a student at UBTS, and Marina’s husband Dima gives music lessons in the music department. The seminary has helped many of these families resettle.

Why did I write this book? And why should you read it? These are really good questions. I live in L’viv, Ukraine. My husband, Russell, and I are part of Disciples Church , and Elisey Pronin is our pastor. The women you are going to read about are all at our church plant, so I know them personally, and have listened to their amazing stories in awe and wonder. I had a strong sense that their stories should be told. The war in Eastern Ukraine is still going on. The events described in this book are very much near and present experiences, not something from a distant past.

By God’s grace, I enjoy writing and researching. Praying about the title, the idea of Lives Left Behind came to my mind, and so the writing journey began. I prepared the questions for the interviews and chose the women. Then I conducted the interviews in Russian, and translated and transcribed their testimonies into English. These are their stories told by themselves.

Why should you read this book? You need to know what is going on in the world, even if it is far away from your place of living. Your knowledge of true events will hopefully move you to actions in some way. Praying for the region and the conflict, creating awareness in your circle of influence, and helping in some practical ways would all be great action steps for you to take after reading this book. [3] Other resources I recommend for further reading are: www.kyivpost.com and www.baptyst.com/ukrainian-postman .

Enjoy reading Lives Left Behind .

Oksana was born in Pervomaisk, in the Lugansk Region of Eastern Ukraine on December 12, 1977. She grew up in an apartment in the center of town. Her home was near the elementary school; the kindergarten and some stores were within walking distance of her house. It was very comfortable to live there, she recalls. Her parents had also grown up in this city. Her father, Alexey, was born in 1950, and her mom, Rita, in 1958. Oksana has a sister, Jana, who is three-and-a-half years older. Oksana described her childhood as very idyllic. “We had a great family, we lived close to each other – even two grandmothers lived nearby, and our home town was pretty and peaceful and quiet.”

Oksana had many friends in town. She spent the summer holidays mostly with her grandmother Rita, who had a small home and a big yard. The kids played often in the quiet streets of the town, used their bicycles to get around, and worked in the family’s potato fields. Oksana’s family would also take a vacation every year and travel to the sea. These trips would be either to the Azov Sea or the Black Sea around Crimea. One time the family even traveled to Sochi in Russia.

Oksana remembers some major world events happening during her childhood. First was Chernobyl, the nuclear disaster in 1986. She remembers the news and headlines. Everyone was talking about the nuclear meltdown, but she did not understand all the details or the impact on the country. She was nine years old when it happened. She also remembers the sequence of events that led to the break-up of the Soviet Union and how Ukraine became an independent country in Eastern Europe in 1991.

After finishing high school, Oksana studied for two years at the medical college, from 1996-1998, and became a nurse. Holidays were celebrated in typical Ukrainian family tradition. The whole clan would get together, there would be a lot of food spread out on the tables, and they would celebrate. Religious holidays were not observed at all in the Kiyan home. At this time, Oksana’s father was the only one going to the local Baptist church, which was considered by many to be a cult or sect. Rita, Oksana’s mother, was an Orthodox believer, but she and her daughters stayed home on Sundays. Only on the really big Christian holidays, like Easter and Christmas, would the whole family go with Oksana’s father to his Baptist church.