"Russian Officers Are Sleeping in My Children’s Beds in Mariupol"

Hennadiy Mokhnenko is a Protestant pastor from Mariupol, currently occupied by Russia. He leads a chaplain battalion and is a father to 41 children — three biological and 38 adopted. In 2015, Hollywood director Steve Hoover made a film, Almost Holy, about Mokhnenko’s efforts to save homeless children. In 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he and his team managed to rescue thousands of people. Here is his story, shared exclusively for the newspaper.

My last church service in Mariupol took place on February 20, 2022, just four days before the genocide in my city. It was an unusual service. I read the parable of the Good Samaritan, who bandaged a stranger’s wounds, and then handed the floor over to a tactical medic for several hours, teaching people how to stop bleeding.

By February 24, my city would be littered with corpses. Over 100,000 civilians have died in Mariupol, a city turned into a graveyard by the Russians. This is a confrontation with absolute evil, where human life has no value.

We left everything behind in Mariupol, escaping with only our souls. I received intelligence that I had 40 minutes to evacuate the orphanages. I grabbed the Bible, the children, and we raced against Russian tanks. Friends in intelligence called, "Pastor, faster, faster."

Now, my greatest nightmare is dreaming that I didn’t make it, seeing bombs falling on the children.

After bringing the children and women to western part of Ukraine, I realized I had to return to Mariupol. Older children, friends, and parishioners remained there. I tried to break back into the city with other chaplains, almost certain I was heading toward my death. But, miraculously, in a single day, God saved our lives three times.

Yet I couldn’t re-enter the blocked city. Meanwhile, one of my older adopted sons, Artem, took charge of a bomb shelter under our church. Eventually, he decided to lead an evacuation from the city. We met at the “zero line,” unable to believe he had managed to break out with a convoy. Many trying to leave Mariupol were killed. The next morning, he said, “Dad, I’ll take more out. Give me a chance.” He and my friends risked their lives to rescue 8,000 people from Mariupol. The UN and the Red Cross evacuated zero people, but a former homeless kid did something incredible.

The Russians killed my adopted daughter, Victoria, in Mariupol. She had been part of our family since she was ten, and her life ended at 28. They shot her with a tank. In the 21st century, Russian tanks are leveling a city and tearing my daughter’s body to pieces. Humanity must unite against evil once again. After World War II, we said, "Never again," but here it is, happening again.

They destroyed 80% of Mariupol. Human remains lay scattered around my church. Russian officers are sleeping in my children’s beds. My youngest son, now in the U.S., sobbed over the phone, saying, “I have nothing left — no toys, no childhood photos.”

They burned my church and turned it into an office building. The orphanage was converted into a command center.

Eleven of my older children, including my daughter, are now fighting at the front. Six of my sons have been injured. Last month, I thought I’d lost one of them for good, mourning him in my mind. When they told me he’d died, I fell to the floor, howling. But, thank God, 40 minutes later, I got a call saying, “He’s alive! Just the fog of war.”

As for me, I’ve been working as a chaplain on the frontlines for 11 years. Every day, we load our vehicles with humanitarian supplies and set out to support our soldiers. It’s also crucial for us as religious leaders to boost the morale of our fighters.

Ukraine is a country of complete religious freedom. We collaborate with all churches, and I count Orthodox metropolitans and Catholic leaders among my good friends. In 2023, I had a personal audience with Pope Francis, and he recently sent me a personal letter saying he’s praying for my children.

As for the Russian Orthodox Church, it’s led by a former KGB operative — a criminal in a robe and a man without morality. During Hitler’s era, there was Reich Bishop Müller, who endorsed Nazi ideology. Today, the Moscow Patriarchate and Kirill Gundyaev represent a Reich Kremlin Episcopate, supporting Putin’s satanic system. They are accomplices in crimes against humanity.

The world thinks Putin will stop if he takes a piece of Ukraine. But if the global community doesn’t teach dictators a lesson now, what happened in Mariupol will happen to others. God forbid you witness your city being turned into a graveyard.

All of civilization must unite against Putin’s aggression and drive the Russians out of Ukraine. This is a matter of justice.

In the 21st century, we must not allow anyone to destroy cities and then talk about new borders. If someone enters your home, kills your children, and then offers to “peacefully” coexist in neighboring rooms of your own house, never agree. It’s madness. Such a principle will destroy the international community. Those responsible must not just be removed but imprisoned. Russians must answer for their crimes against humanity.

Uliana Stelmashova