WASHINGTON — Nearly 5,000 miles from his home, Mykola Pymonenko closely monitors the situation in Sumy, Ukraine. He has lived there his entire life and serves as the pastor of a Baptist church.
Pymonenko traveled to the United States this summer to share how Ukrainian Christians have struggled yet persevered during the nearly 3.5-year war with Russia.
During his visit to the U.S., 50,000 Russian troops deployed to the northeastern region of Ukraine where he resides. This week, President Trump told reporters that he is also “watching closely” to see whether Russia launches a military offensive on the city, which sits nearly 20 miles from the border between Ukraine and Russia.
For the Baptist minister, the potential assault triggers memories of a deadly attack earlier this year, when a missile strike came incredibly close to claiming his life.
“The weather was not very sunny, but at the same time, there were no signs of something bad coming or something that would disturb my soul,” Pymonenko recounted to CBN News through an interpreter.
On April 13, he stood on the pulpit of Light of the Gospel Church to deliver a sermon that he hoped would counter the overcast day and uplift his congregation as they met to celebrate Palm Sunday.
He was in the middle of his message when the floor and the walls of the church started to rattle. The thunderous boom did not come from his preaching but a missile that exploded just meters away.
A recording of the service shows shocked and frightened expressions on the faces of church members seated behind him. Others stood up and scurried away from the wall.
Pymonenko said his priority was to keep everyone safe and calm.
Moments later, a second explosion shattered the church’s windows. That’s when he ordered everyone to take cover in the church basement.
Nearby, chaos reigned in the streets of Sumy. Two Russian ballistic missiles killed 35 people – among them were 12-year-old Maksym Martynenko and his parents, Natalia and Mykola. Twenty-four other children were injured in an attack on the city three weeks earlier.
Pymonenko knew the Martynenko family and grieves over the loss of life, both on that day and throughout the war. His church provides meals for people who served in the Ukrainian army.
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Yet he also marvels that only two people inside the church that day were slightly hurt, considering one of the missiles struck 100 meters from the building.
While waiting for the attack to end, his congregation did what it knows best.
“They were singing, praying,” he said. “They were thanking God for being alive.”
In the days following the Palm Sunday attack, Pymonenko’s brothers rounded up supplies to work on the repairs.
“The church has suffered damage, but fortunately, thank God, the building and the walls remain standing,” he recounted.
The following Easter Sunday, in an act of faith and defiance, they opened the church doors for worship and celebrated the resurrection with a renewed appreciation for life.
“We were celebrating that we were alive – that we managed to remain alive,” Pymonenko said. “The same day in the evening, many churches of the city came together and worshipped together.”
The pastor told CBN News despite its proximity to Russia, Sumy remained relatively quiet until Ukraine’s military invaded the Russian region of Kursk in August 2024. He said that is when the Kremlin started a “policy of targeting the region of Sumy” and its capital city of the same name.
On the day CBN News interviewed Pymonenko in Washington, D.C., his hometown was hit again in retaliation for a covert Ukrainian drone attack that destroyed dozens of expensive Russian bombers.
As reported by Ukrainian evangelicals and others, Pymonenko told CBN News that Russian-occupied territories have already seen their religious freedom stripped away or worse.
Still, as he ponders the future of the war, the Baptist minister believes there’s a path for peace. “Ukraine has the possibility to win,” he explained. “But everyone has to fall on their knees and ask God to help us to save Ukraine.”
“We’re also very grateful for the United States, that you’re helping us to stand. And if we do that, if we ask God and everyone falls on their knees, Ukraine has hope to win,” he added.
