New Life Radio was based in Russia but moved to Odessa, Ukraine, in response to increasingly restrictive Russian laws. New Life’s founder and organiser said despite the current crisis, Christian radio is a crucial ministry for reaching Russian-speaking peoples. He said, ‘The importance of Christian radio is we can ensure Russian-speakers get solid biblical teaching and sound doctrine in a way that overcomes their inability to currently get it. When the government stops the evangelical church from evangelising and doing public discipleship, what’s the next vehicle that can accomplish that? Christian radio’. New Life Radio was launched as an FM station, then expanded its reach across Russia and surrounding Russian-speaking nations through satellite radio. They now broadcast on the internet around the world. During the Ukraine crisis they moved to Romania to continue broadcasting. They also now give updates for informed prayer.

The road to war for Elliott and Kieran ran through Facebook, a £20 Ryanair flight to Krakow in Poland, a cold night sleeping outside a railway station, then walking into Ukraine to join other recruits taking a minibus to Lviv. ‘I just can't sit at home and watch what's going on and carry on as usual,’ says CJ Darton, who served seven years with the Royal Anglian Regiment. When Russia invaded Ukraine he almost immediately began making plans to volunteer. ‘We were stopped by police on the way out,’ recounts Kieran, a plumber from Brighton. ‘They said “fair play to you”. As far as I'm aware we're not doing anything wrong.’ When they reach the front line they can either sign up with Ukraine's International Legion and stay for the duration of the war for the same pay as Ukrainian soldiers, or join other former British soldiers already fighting on the front line.

The Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF), working under the authority of the Ukraine ministry of health, is providing a portal for getting medicines, consumables and equipment to hospitals, health centres and frontline Ukrainian paramedics. It has a window of opportunity and needs to act quickly and decisively. It has appointed experienced volunteers to key roles and has set up a national operation to deliver medical supplies to Ukraine, in partnership with the Keswick Group. Supplies will be received, sorted and packaged near Derby and then sent by lorry to Poland where they have organised a good supply route into a West Ukraine distribution centre operated by a local Christian medical association. Please pray for stamina for the CMF doctors and nurses collecting medical supplies from pharmacies, surgeries and hospitals. Pray for wisdom as they sort the aid and package it, and for safe speedy transport to the areas where it is needed.

Richard worked in the City of London and had a PhD in political science He was 30 when he was admitted to the Linden Centre, Chelmsford, over fears he would harm himself after a recurrence of depression. His father said they left Richard with scissors, razors, shoelaces, electrical cords and a dressing gown cord. Someone else had taken their own life there three months earlier, but hazards in its layout were still in place. ‘It is the same errors and the same flaws, time after time. People are still dying, needlessly.’ A public inquiry has learned of the deaths of 1,500 people who were in the care of Essex mental health services over a 21-year period. The ongoing inquiry began taking evidence from the public in December. Recurring themes are concerns over patients' physical, mental, and sexual safety while on wards. See also