Russia has received international backlash for invading the sovereign nation of Ukraine beginning on Feb. 24. | Unsplash
Russia has received international backlash for invading the sovereign nation of Ukraine beginning on Feb. 24. | Unsplash
St. Mark's Community Church in Burlington recently welcomed Ukrainian minister Vitaliy Smolin, who now hopes to bring his family to North Carolina before tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalate.
"We are different cultures and different countries and we speak different languages, but because of the Soviet Union, we are so intertwined together that it’s family,” Vitaliy Smolin, minister at Smolin Ministries, told WFMY News. “We are not attacking anybody. Just trying to hold and protect what God gave us, and I think every nation in the world has a right to God-given land."
Smolin left Ukraine on a fundraising quest early last week, shortly before Russian troops imposed the attack upon the country. He and his wife run Smolin Ministries, based in Ternopil, a city in western Ukraine, and started working with St. Mark’s, whose members completed a missionary trip to Ukraine in December 2020. The couple prioritizes charity work relating to orphans.
"Last night at 10 p.m., the worst nightmare for every Ukrainian worldwide came true," Smolin told WFMY News on Feb. 24. "I couldn't believe it."
A short time after prayers were recited at the church last week, Smolin was notified of the approval his wife received to leave the country.
"We just came out of prayer and literally 15 minutes, 20 minutes later, I get a text from my wife that she got a pass to leave the country," Smolin told WFMY News. "It’s amazing. I’m very excited that my wife is going to be safe because as a husband, it’s a heavy burden to have your loved ones so far away."
He then received word about bomb sirens going off in his city, telling family and staff members to seek shelter inside the basement. Though he is relieved his family is out of harm’s way, he still worries for his staff’s safety.
"Emotionally, I want to be there with my team," Smolin said, according to WFMY News.
Smolin is now staying with a friend in Graham who has led health care missions in Ukraine. At a Thursday afternoon prayer meeting, Smolin expressed his concern regarding the conflict, highlighting the heightened pain he feels knowing he has family members in Russia.
"Not knowing if my family could escape, not knowing if there's going to be more rockets flying to the west, it's a devastating feeling," Smolin told WFMY News.
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