Mykolay Makohin is a priest in the rear and a military chaplain at the front. For almost a decade, he has been going on deployments to the front line every month from the village of Ivanhorod, Oleksandria community, Kirovohrad region, to support the soldiers with prayer. Currently, he most often travels to the Donetsk sector. Sometimes, he said, no words are needed as it is enough to listen to the soldier.
Mykolay Makohin became a military chaplain in 2015, writes Suspilne.
“They took us to Kyiv, taught us what booby traps are, showed us everything. From our rotation, 40 priests went to the East to prayerfully protect Ukraine and our guys.”
Seeing people die is the most difficult thing, said the chaplain.
“I think I’ll cry… It’s hardest… Take Misha. You come one day and have tea with him, and then you come another day, and he’s gone.”
Soldiers need communication and they are happy to have it because everyone has a soul that hurts, weeps, or rejoices, Mykolay Makohin said.
“My job is to hear confessions, to receive communion, and to sanctify. People don’t understand too much about your work, but when they confess somewhere out in the woods, in a forest strip, when you go out there along their side, there is no better reward for a military priest, when the guys repent, when they receive communion.”
Back in the rear, Mykolay Makohin serves in Ivanhorod as part of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Eleven years ago, the community scrambled to make a church out of a former convenience store.
The priest says t he sees another side of the moods among Ukraine’s military, which others can’t see.
“You have to believe, you have to pray. And I see the mood of our guys, you know, that side of the coin that others can’t see. These guys are patriots and they will not allow Ukraine to be captured.”
