With Jehovah’s help, Sisters Liudmyla Mozul and Kateryna Rozdorska are coping with the physical and emotional toll of war. Their husbands, Petro Mozul and Dmytro Rozdorskyi, were among the first of Jehovah’s Witnesses to die as casualties in Ukraine. Sadly, to date, we have lost 34 brothers and sisters to the military conflict.

Petro and Liudmyla were baptized in 1994. The couple were married for 43 years.

“Fellow believers share words of comfort with me every day,” Liudmyla says. “Their calls do not stop. I was also moved to tears by a letter with words of sympathy from the branch in Ukraine.”

The war started on February 24, 2022. Petro, who served as a ministerial servant in a sign-language congregation, was killed as he and his family were attempting to flee the intense bombing in Kharkiv on March 1, 2022.

That day, after several days of shelling, fighter jets roared overhead and began attacking the city. The family gathered the bare necessities and left within 30 minutes. Petro and Liudmyla were in one car. Their son, Oleksii, and his wife, Maryna, were in another. “We were driving down the street in a residential area and came under an air strike,” Liudmyla says. “The car literally shook from the shock waves.”

Petro, who was 67 years old, swerved to avoid a collision with Oleksii’s car, but sustained severe injuries. He and Liudmyla were taken to the hospital where Petro later died. Liudmyla sustained injuries to her leg and abdomen from shrapnel. Oleksii and Maryna were not injured. Liudmyla learned of Petro’s death after being discharged from the hospital three days later.

Liudmyla says: “The more I think about Jehovah’s kindness and wonderful purpose, the more inner peace I feel. I am sure that in the new world I will definitely see my husband again, and I can’t wait for that joyful moment.”

Dmytro and Kateryna were married for eight years. Speaking to her from his job, his last words to her were, “I’ll be home soon.”

Hours later, on March 8, 2022, a coworker called Kateryna and said that Dmytro had stepped on a mine and had been taken to the hospital. He died five hours after undergoing surgery.

After learning of Dmytro’s death, Kateryna relates: “That night, Jehovah not only held my hand, he carried me in his arms. I felt that Jehovah was very close to me.”

Dmytro, aged 28, was baptized in 2006 and served as an elder in the Donetsk Region of Ukraine.

Shortly after a memorial service for Dmytro, Kateryna embarked on a 12-hour trip to a safer area of Ukraine. “I have received encouragement from brothers and sisters all over Ukraine and beyond. They placed so much love in my heart, which eased my pain.”

She continues: “I also find comfort in the ministry. . . . When it gets very hard for me, I recite verses from the Bible such as Philippians 4:6, 7.”

We are confident that Jehovah will continue to be a source of strength and comfort for our dear brothers and sisters who have lost loved ones to the military conflict in Ukraine.—Psalm 61:1-3.