Twin Girls Die in Restaurant Bombing
July 27th 2023
The Kramatorsk restaurant strike shows that in Ukraine, death can come any time, anywhere.
It was dinner time and the restaurant – a popular pizza joint in the center of Kramatorsk – was crammed with people. Just after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, a Russian missile ripped through, killing at least 11 people. For millions across the country, the strike was yet another reminder of the horrifying reality of life in Ukraine.
Within hours, our office in Lviv received a call from one of HART partner Pastors. Ihor tearfully told us about the 14-year-old twin sisters Yulia and Anna Aksenchenko, who were among those killed in the strike.
IHOR'S WORD: "On September 4, 2023, they would have turned 15, but all their dreams, plans, joyful expectations, and hopes are buried under the ruins of a building destroyed by a Russian missile.
Experts calculate the price of missiles and enemy ammunition fired at Ukraine, but who can calculate or put a price on the lives of two 14-year-old girls? Every day they calculate the amount of damage caused to Ukraine as a result of the destruction of infrastructure, educational institutions, medical facilities, cultural heritage of Ukraine, and more. Can anyone put a price on the priceless thousands of lost lives of men, women, and children?
It is heartbreaking to hear about the deaths of people, especially when you personally know the people who died. Anna and Yulia attended our church with their grandmother Liuda, who had repented and accepted Christ into her heart.
They were living with Liuda, as their parents were divorced. On this day their father wanted to see the girls and invited them to meet him at a cafe for a pizza, where their precious lives were later cut short by an enemy missile. The children's father survived. It is hard to imagine what the family is going through now.
Grandma Liuda is grieving for her children. I visited her, tried to comfort her, and cried with her. I understand her because we lost our youngest son three years ago. Liuda asks questions to which I cannot find answers. For now, all that remains is to pray for the healing of the hearts that lost these precious children and to visit them, giving them love and hope." Your brother in the Lord, Ihor Bondar.
It was dinner time and the restaurant – a popular pizza joint in the center of Kramatorsk – was crammed with people. Just after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, a Russian missile ripped through, killing at least 11 people. For millions across the country, the strike was yet another reminder of the horrifying reality of life in Ukraine.
Within hours, our office in Lviv received a call from one of HART partner Pastors. Ihor tearfully told us about the 14-year-old twin sisters Yulia and Anna Aksenchenko, who were among those killed in the strike.
IHOR'S WORD: "On September 4, 2023, they would have turned 15, but all their dreams, plans, joyful expectations, and hopes are buried under the ruins of a building destroyed by a Russian missile.
Experts calculate the price of missiles and enemy ammunition fired at Ukraine, but who can calculate or put a price on the lives of two 14-year-old girls? Every day they calculate the amount of damage caused to Ukraine as a result of the destruction of infrastructure, educational institutions, medical facilities, cultural heritage of Ukraine, and more. Can anyone put a price on the priceless thousands of lost lives of men, women, and children?
It is heartbreaking to hear about the deaths of people, especially when you personally know the people who died. Anna and Yulia attended our church with their grandmother Liuda, who had repented and accepted Christ into her heart.
They were living with Liuda, as their parents were divorced. On this day their father wanted to see the girls and invited them to meet him at a cafe for a pizza, where their precious lives were later cut short by an enemy missile. The children's father survived. It is hard to imagine what the family is going through now.
Grandma Liuda is grieving for her children. I visited her, tried to comfort her, and cried with her. I understand her because we lost our youngest son three years ago. Liuda asks questions to which I cannot find answers. For now, all that remains is to pray for the healing of the hearts that lost these precious children and to visit them, giving them love and hope." Your brother in the Lord, Ihor Bondar.
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