Occupied, liberated, and now underwater, Kherson remains on the frontline of fighting—and faith. A local seminary president explains how the latest baptisms reveal deepening faith.
For eight months, the Ukrainian city of Kherson endured Russian occupation.
Now—along with at least seven churches—it is underwater.
Experts estimate that the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam, 44 miles upstream, released an amount of water equal to the Great Salt Lake. A new wave of evacuations is underway in southern Ukraine, with 25,000 people in Russian-controlled areas and 17,000 in Ukrainian-held territory advised to leave.
An estimated 2,000 houses have been flooded, with 16,000 people made homeless. A lack of drinking water, electricity shortages, and floating land mines have contributed to the humanitarian and ecological disaster.
The dam’s reservoir contributed 2,600 tons of fish to the local economy. Wheat prices have spiked, as 94 percent of Kherson’s irrigation system has lost its supply. And 150 tons of machine oil have been carried toward the Black Sea.
But that is just the physical damage.
Tavriski Christian Institute (TCI) in Kherson is a spiritual casualty. Liberated from Russian occupation last November, the seminary’s riverside properties suffered a new blow with the deluge. Early in the war, its president, Valentin Siniy, evacuated west with his wife and two children to Ivano-Frankivsk, where TCI continues in-person education for relocating staff and students.
And from over 500 miles away, he oversees seminary-based relief efforts.
CT spoke with Siniy about the state of the Kherson campus, the emotional impact of the flood, and challenges to faith that have led to newfound spiritual insights.
What is the situation with your seminary?
When the Russian military descended upon our cherished seminary, it was an emblem of knowledge and spiritual growth. They stripped it of its essence. …