There is a war in Ukraine. Apart from those who have joined the army, the war is fought by ordinary people who persevere, not giving in to doubt and hardship. Among those who continue to persevere, an important place is occupied by religious sisters.

KAI recently had the chance to speak with Sister Karolina, a Franciscan Sister Servant of the Cross, who tells us about the situation in Zhytomyr.

Paweł Kęska: Sisters, what has been happening at the Franciscan Sisters’ house over the past five days?

Sister Karolina, FKS: The situation was very tense from the very beginning. We prayed for peace in the churches and in our communities. On February 24 at 5 a.m. we were awakened by a huge bang and the noise of airplanes. We got up in shock. We realized that something terrible had happened. We went to church, and there everyone was already saying that there was a war, that Russia had invaded us. So we started praying.

This is a completely new reality and everything is moving very fast. A lot of people are leaving. Mostly to Poland, but not only. We run a day care center for blind children here. First thing in the morning we called everyone and told them not to bring their children. These children have been heading for the countryside with their families, because it is safer there. But we stayed in the city to be with people, to support and accompany them. At the beginning it was calm, but since two days there are more and more rocket alerts. Yesterday two rockets hit the airport. It is far from us, but there was a terrible bang and everything was shaking. There is a lot of stress. We are praying, we are trying to live a normal life, but there are still those sirens.

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