Religious News Service (RNS), a global leader in news coverage of religion, ethics, and spirituality, recently published an article on the challenges that ISKCON devotees in Ukraine have experienced over the past few years. The article’s author, Tori Luecking, interviewed Niranjana Swami, Acyuta Priya Dasa, and Ukrainian devotees for the profile. Ukraine is home to an estimated 15,000 ISKCON devotees.
You can read the full article here.
The Share Your Care Foundation (SYCF) has released its most recent newsletter, outlining the extraordinary service it has been offering in Ukraine over the last six months (February – July). This initiative is dedicated to support the devotees who have been affected by the war in Ukraine and is under the guidance of HH Niranjana Swami, the GBC for Ukrain. It has the approval and overwhelming support of the entire GBC body. It focuses on devotee relocation from conflict areas, devotee maintenanc
By Lila Sakti Devi Dasi
The dedicated efforts of ISKCON devotees from New Ramana Reti in Alachua, FL, have culminated in a significant act of compassion, as a sizeable humanitarian aid shipment has finally reached the Vaishnava communities in Ukraine.
The situation in Ukraine posed challenges for the shipment, with the combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war disrupting regular transport routes. As a result, essential supplies, including deity worship paraphernalia, incense,
By Achyuta Priya Dasa
In this statement, we will summarize and report on the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) activities in Ukraine during the almost one-and-a-half difficult and tragic years of the unexpected war that brought immeasurable suffering to the entire nation.
ISKCON in Ukraine is an ancient monotheistic religious tradition based on the Vedic scriptures and numbering tens of millions of followers in India and around the world. In 1965, the Society’s Founder-A
By Thomas Haribol
In June, ISKCON News reported on devotees returning to survey the ISKCON Kherson Temple in Ukraine, which was severely damaged during the ongoing conflict there. Bhakta Max, a native of Kherson, had moved back into the building to remove debris and begin the restoration process. Sadly, within weeks, on July 4th, a rocket struck the Temple, smashing all the windows and putting a massive hole in the roof of the building. Thankfully, no one was harmed in this latest strike.
Other
By Niranjana Swami
From a lecture at Towaco, New Jersey, on June 11, 2023:
We had a retreat in Ukraine recently. We could not call it a festival because people would wonder why we were having a festival during a war. It was called the Nitai Gauranga retreat, and 1,300 devotees attended. It was at a ski lodge in a beautiful place in the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine. The devotees were so happy to see each other, being so much separated by the war.
There is a lot of conflict going on in
By Parasurama Das
“One who has taken shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord, which are accepted as the most suitable boat for crossing the ocean of nescience, can achieve liberation as easily as one leaps over the holes made by the hoofs of a calf. Such persons are meant to reside in the abode of the Lord, and they have nothing to do with a place where there is danger in every step.
This material world is certified by the Lord in the Bhagavad-gita
as a dangerous place full of calamities. Less in
The ISKCON Ukraine devotees would like to thank ISKCON North America for organizing and collecting over $100,000 to help them, who are now in the middle of winter, have power and heat. The NAC Support Office led the fundraising effort, specifically Kuladri das. The NAC would like to thank all the temples and individuals who gave to this effort.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/news-brief-ukraine-winter-appeal/
Dnipro in Ukraine has a beautiful Hare Krishna Temple, a thousand devotees live in this city with beautiful Deities of Gaur Nitai and Jagannath, Baladev and Subadra. (The big Gaur Nitai have moved to a secret safe location.)
They have a traveling Sankirtan party and a big Prasad Distribution Initiative, it’s like going back in time to ISKCON in the old glory days. The devotees have such a welcoming mood, it is very humbling visiting this temple.
There are 150,000 refugees living in Dnipro as it
By Ekantita-buddhi dasa
I continue to distribute books. Even though the military is trying to catch and recruit all young men, Krsna protects me.
I walk along the main street, and of course I look around, but I continue to offer books. The people react very well and take books. Krishna protects me from the military.
On a recent Saturday, I was at a big market from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and people took 115 books. Then I went and dined at Food for Life and continued distributing until 6 p.m. The peop
For more than 8 months war has been going on in Ukraine and devotees keep asking us for help.
The devotees in the occupied cities and towns on the front line are facing the worst situation.
The economy is not operational there and it is close to impossible for them to support themselves.
Many devotees need to be evacuated, you might be asking how to help Ukrainian devotees. Share your care fund is the tool you can use to do this.
SHARE YOUR CARE WITH DEVOTEES
Shareyour.care project is dedicated
Video: Click here
Join us for a one-hour special conversation with Niranjana Swami, ISKCON Governing Body Commissioner, to learn about the current status of Hare Krishna devotees in Ukraine, the challenges they face, and how you can help.
Maharaj will share many of the stories and plight of the Ukrainian devotees. In an interview format, he will answer questions and describe the condition of the yatra and how the ISKCON community came to help.
Some of the topics:
Mariupol is one of the biggest сities in East Ukraine. There used to be more than 500,000 people before the war broke out. However, now the сity is mostly destroyed. But those that could not leave remain to survive day by day.
The city has no gas, electric power, or water. Many people are living in the basement of buildings. They have to cook with firewood. As winter approaches, it is very important to provide them with a hot meal.
Ukrainian authorities reported outages in nearly 600 towns and
PRESS RELEASE
ONE DAY FOR UKRAINE festival will take place on Saturday, October 1st, 2022 in Alachua, FL (15 minutes outside of Gainesville) and will aim to bring awareness to the ongoing war in Ukraine. This will be the first interfaith event for the community, uniting people of various cultural, religious, social and economic backgrounds, around a great humanitarian cause. The event will welcome members of the greater Gainesville, Orlando, St. Augustine, Tampa, Tallahassee, and Jacksonville
Share Your Care started a new patronage program where we appeal to yatras and individuals who want to support Ukrainian Yatra in these difficult times to focus their attention on one particular yatra, family, or individual. In this section of our website, you can find eligible candidates for your ongoing support.
Share Your Care team has carefully studied each case and carefully vetted all projects and individuals listed here and although you as a patron will have a direct connection and commun
Oleg Prabhu is a vaishnava from Melitopol. The city has been occupied by the Russian army since March. He needs our help to evacuate his family.
Oleg Prabhu tells us:
“Since the war broke out, the city has been occupied, there are a lot of military men on the streets and right in front of our house. The city is shelled all the time, something explodes almost every night. Because of this, my wife often has panic attacks and, in general, she is depressed, all the side effects following (sleep dis
My name is Yuliia Mudrak, I am 25 years old, and I am from Ukraine. Before the war, I lived in Kyiv and worked as a certified preschool-teacher. Unfortunately many devotees had to leave their normal life in Ukraine due to the war. But at the same time, we’ve been able to see wonderful examples of devotees in other countries, who show great concern for us Ukrainian devotees.
For the first two days of the war, I stayed in my apartment close to the temple. However when it became too unsafe, I, lik
On July 16, two Food For Life devotees in Alchevsk (Donbass) — Krsna-tattva Prabhu, director of the program, and Madana-gopal Prabhu — were killed in a missile strike that hit the Food For Life kitchen. They had just returned from prasadam distribution to the FFL base when a missile attack destroyed the building, and they were buried under the rubble. Another devotee, Arjuna Prabhu was injured and has been taken to hospital.
The Donbass FFL program provided over 1000 hot prasadam meals weekly t
I know you all feel like you want to help with what's going on in Ukraine. Our Hare Krishna movement has an ISKCON temple in Lviv, Ukraine currently serving as a refugee centre. I want to share with you some information so that you can get involved in this important support program. Below is content taken from Share Your Care regarding Ukrainian Krishna devotees needing our help in Lviv. I will include the link to the site at the bottom of this entry for more information.
"Both Share Your Care
Help for Ukraine – Devotees fleeing to Poland gives you a brief insight into the dedication, service mood and attitude of devotees serving in the Poland Yatra. The devotees help provide temporary accommodation , food , basic necessities and help the refugees find financial assistance. If you like this video and would like to assist us in our service then please contact us at iskconeucrisis@gmail.com. Thank you for viewing our video.
Source: https://iskconnews.org/help-for-ukraine-iskcon-poland
