Ukraine (MNN) — Ukrainian forces say they have retaken the city of Irpin from Russian troops. Weeks of heavy fighting have engulfed this suburb of Kyiv. The city has suffered extensive damage to infrastructure, with apartments knocked down and bridges blown out. Watch a short video of the destruction.

Eric Mock with the Slavic Gospel Association says, “The word we have is that from street to street, it’s hard to tell who’s in control. There’s so much fighting continuing on that it’s very difficult.”

Centers for ministry

Mock says Irpin was a beautiful city, surrounded by forests of evergreen trees. SGA had an office in Irpin, as well as a seminary with 830 students. Many other Christian ministries operated in the city as well.

But today, fighting has torn Irpin apart. Mission Eurasia saw their Field Ministries Headquarters completely destroyed. Russian soldiers burned all of their literature as well.

SGA offered their seminary building to shelter people displaced from their houses. Mock says, “With this much safety being provided by this building, it was hit by around 30 mortars, which set it ablaze. What I understood was that people still had nowhere to go. So they stayed in the basement even while the seminary itself was burning.”

“Hearing that there were still people there, a second round of mortars the following day completely obliterated the seminary.”

But ministry continues, as SGA provides food to Ukrainians in need. Pray for an end to the invasion, and that many will find hope in Jesus. Want to help? You can support SGA’s ministry here.

Mock encourages readers to pray for the people of Russia as well. “There are many people in Russia that are brokenhearted over the violence and what they’re seeing happening. And now with the sanctions, there are many Russian people that will suffer. So we pray that in Russia, there is a great revival.”

The header photo shows civilians being transferred from Irpin to Kyiv amid Russian attacks. (Mvs.gov.ua, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)