Off Guard

Ukraine launched a surprise invasion into western Russia this week.

On Tuesday, several army brigades exploited a gap in Russia’s defenses along the northern Russia-Ukraine border. By Wednesday, support from artillery, drones, and air defenses enabled hundreds of Ukrainian troops to press nearly 10 miles into southern Russia and capture several villages. 

Ukraine has been very tight-lipped about the invasion—its first major cross-border offensive operation. Its possible that Kyiv hopes to divert Russian troops, shifting them away from Ukraine’s east, into defense on their own home front, and creating a safe “buffer zone.”

Putin called the incursion “a large-scale provocation,” and some military analysts are questioning Ukraine’s decision to move its forces away from the frontlines, where Russia has more manpower and airpower, and to break from Western desires to use Western arms defensively.

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CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
As nations fight over temporary borders, followers of Christ can rejoice in our eternal inheritance: the entire world, made completely new, where we will live and reign with our Savior forever. 

“Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:5 (CSB) (read full passage)