The seemingly endless war between Russia and Ukraine appeared to enter a new phase Sunday as Kyiv initiated its largest ever attack against the Putin regime, launching over 1,000 drones overnight at Moscow and other targets. The development comes as ministries are continuing to provide Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines with desperately needed spiritual resources.

The Associated Press reported that Sunday’s attack had damaged the Moscow Oil Refinery and several other sites in the capital, killing two civilians and wounding 20. The large-scale attack came as Russia held its third day of parliamentary elections, with Kyiv appearing to leverage its sophisticated drone technology to exert pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a ceasefire. The Russian autocrat has so far shown no signs of being open to negotiations, however.

Russia responded to the offensive with more of its own drone attacks, continuing to target religious and other civilian targets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that a Russian drone struck a monastery in the Kherson region, killing a clergy member and wounding four others. Moscow also struck 31 other targets across Ukraine Monday.

Experts say that the brutality of the Russian regime has been marked by its penchant for targeting religious sites within Ukraine as well as children. Dr. Tom Benz, founder and president of Bridges of Faith International, described what he saw on the ground while ministering to Ukrainian soldiers.

“The abuses and atrocities committed by the Russian soldiers are many, and they are unspeakable,” he described during “Washington Watch” Friday. “It’s just a horrible situation. We worked with a group in Bucha, a city outside of Kyiv, that was occupied early on in the war. And then, of course, the Russian soldiers were driven back. But while they were there, they took over the church grounds, which it was more than just a church — they had a child care center. They took care of foster kids. They had about 18 foster kids the pastor and his wife took care of, in addition to their own four children. So they took over those grounds, made the ministry family serve them, and then and set up artillery rocket launchers in the church yard. There were things that happened there that I just won’t discuss on the air. The persecution was horrible for them, and it’s not an isolated incident.”

Despite the tragic situation on the ground, Benz went on to describe how his ministry has so far supplied over 21,000 waterproof Bibles to Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines, with 60,000 more scheduled to arrive soon.

“Ukraine is a part of the former part of the Soviet Union — they were officially atheists,” he described. “They didn’t have a chaplaincy, and so in the years of independence that still has not developed. … We were able to become a part of helping them develop … the Protestant side of that chaplaincy. So we helped to recruit, train, and deploy about 700 of the roughly 1,300 Protestant chaplains in the Ukrainian army. The need, of course, was we put pocket-sized Bibles in the hands of soldiers. [But after] a good rain, in two or three weeks, those Bibles were really worthless. So our opportunity became, ‘Gosh, let’s find a good contemporary translation in Ukrainian, and then … make it waterproof. … Really excited to have the word of life, God’s word, in the hands of soldiers. I mean, they’re the guys who are in harm’s way and likely would not see another day. So it’s our opportunity to bring the hope of the gospel to those soldiers on the front lines.”

Benz went on to detail how the Bibles are just part of what his ministry is able to provide to the soldiers. “There’s an organization that we are a part of called Kitchen For the Soul Project. Chaplains will drive their volunteers behind the front lines, … set up a field kitchen [and] serve a hot meal, give [them] toiletry hygiene products, have a time of fellowship [and] music, and of course, there’s a presentation of the gospel. And during that time, we can present these waterproof Ukrainian New Testaments to the soldiers. … It’s mostly younger guys who are risking their lives.”

Benz further chronicled how desperate many of the soldiers are for spiritual guidance. “We had a call in our office in Romania from a soldier on the front line, and he was requesting a Bible because he was in a very dangerous position. He didn’t know how much longer he might live, so he requested us to get him a Bible. At that time, we were out. … [We] told this guy, ‘Look, we don’t have them. Give us your information. As soon as we get them, we will send them to you.’ Took down the information. [But we] completely lost track of the guy [and he] does not answer his phone. There’s no way to be in touch with him. Of course we fear the worst, but it underscores the urgency to put God’s word in the hands of those soldiers.”

Benz concluded by highlighting how the public can help Bridges of Faith International’s ministry to Ukrainian soldiers. “It takes about $5 for us to print one of these waterproof scriptures, ship it, and get it actually in the hands of a soldier,” he explained. “Donations can be made on our Facebook page . … [Y]ou can make your donation and designate it for Bibles.”