The Ukrainian Baptist Union has evacuated its headquarters in Kyiv as Russian artillery and airstrikes continue to pound the capital city and as Baptist groups in neighboring countries scramble to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees escaping the violence, according to the European Baptist Federation.
Staff and leaders of the UBU safely fled more than 300 miles west to the Ukrainian city of Lviv, which is near the Polish border and from which they are coordinating the efforts of churches throughout the country to provide overnight housing to those fleeing the violence, the federation said in a March 1 situation report.
Baptist churches in western Ukraine are cooperating with congregations to the east, where the fighting is most intense, to welcome the refugees. They are supplied with food and aid by a half dozen logistics centers established by the UBU.
“The situation, however, is extremely volatile and will continue to rapidly change over the coming days.”
“The situation, however, is extremely volatile and will continue to rapidly change over the coming days,” the statement said. “For now, it is still possible to purchase some goods in many parts of the country, but shortages will come. EBF is in frequent contact with Baptist leaders as they share their needs.”
Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine kicked humanitarian and religious organizations into high gear in anticipation of the death, starvation and migration that would ensue. The Baptist World Alliance staged a 50-nation, virtual prayer meeting for the suffering. The Roman Catholic Church has volunteered to mediate peace negotiations, while secular and faith-based refugee organizations have urged governments to create clear paths for Ukrainian asylees and to cease deportation actions against existing refugees.
United Nations tallies of the suffering suggest Baptists and other faith-based organizations will be inundated until the war concludes. The U.N. reported March 1 nearly 540 civilian casualties since the invasion.
“Most of these casualties were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area,” a U.N. spokesperson said. “This includes shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems and airstrikes.”
The U.N. added that “well over 600,000” have fled the country in less than a week.
The U.N. added that “well over 600,000” have fled the country in less than a week.
Poland has taken in the bulk of those refugees, with close to 380,000 crossing its borders since the war began. As a result, churches are overwhelmed, the European Baptist Federation said.
“Polish Baptists are actively responding to the crisis and have a team managing the response. Churches on the border have turned into shelters for people to temporarily stay. One church with capacity for 50 people had 140 people staying over the weekend, some sleeping on pews. Volunteers are working around the clock to clean bed sheets, provide food, and check-in new people who are coming in.”
People offer free rides for refugees to Budapest at the Tiszabecs-Tiszaujlak border crossing as they flee Ukraine on February 27, 2022, in Tiszabecs, Hungary. Refugees from Ukraine have fled into neighboring countries such as Hungary, forming long queues at border crossings, after Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine earlier this week. (Photo by Janos Kummer/Getty Images)
Baptists in other nations are pitching in, as well. That includes those in Hungary, which shares a small border with Ukraine.
“Both Hungarian Baptist Aid and Hungarian churches are responding to the crisis. HBAid is working both across the border in Ukraine and within Hungary to provide aid to those fleeing,” the federation said. “Currently HBAid is mobilizing to get shipments of supplies into Ukraine for the Ukrainian Baptists to distribute. Churches in Hungary are also receiving refugees and are giving generously to support the effort.”
Romanian Baptist churches situated on the border with Ukraine are collaborating with the UBU to meet humanitarian needs.
“Already each church in the border region had double the number of refugees that they had capacity for,” the statement reported. “Most of the people they are serving have brought nothing with them and so need food, clothing and hygiene items.”
Even churches in Russia are trying to help, the EBF added. “Russian Baptists are mobilizing to help refugees that have fled across the Russian border. The international sanctions are beginning to have an impact on our Russian and Belarussian brothers and sisters.”
American refugee advocacy organizations and a group of politicians have urged the Biden administration to prevent Ukrainians already in the U.S. from being deported by granting them designations such as Temporary Protected Status, Deferred Enforced Departure and Special Student Relief.
“As we watch in horror the attacks unfolding in the neighborhoods and homes of our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, we urge President Biden to protect human life by extending TPS, DED and SSR to Ukrainians currently in the United States,” said Anna Gallagher, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.
In Washington, D.C., 40 Democratic and two Republican U.S. senators sent a letter to the White House with the same appeal.
“In light of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, we respectfully request that your administration promptly take all necessary steps to ensure that Ukrainian nationals present in the United States are not forced to return to the Ukraine,” the senators said.
“According to the Department of State, 29,510 nonimmigrant visas were issued to Ukrainian nationals in fiscal year 2020, the most recent year for which data is available. Granting TPS to the limited population of Ukrainians who are currently in the U.S. on a temporary basis will create a minimal disruption for our country, but forcing these individuals to return to a war zone would be unacceptable.”
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