Lyudmila “Luda” Panfilova still remembers the sound that changed everything — the first explosions rolling across Odessa, Ukraine , as Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Until that moment, she and her family had lived what she describes as a “full and interesting life” in the historic port city they called home.

Odessa was her world — a place of old architecture and Black Sea breezes, a vibrant Baptist church community, music lessons for her children, and a wide circle of friends. Her husband, an ordained deacon, taught at a church branch and worked as a master electrician. Before becoming a homemaker, Panfilova taught at a Christian school and later served in church leadership as a Sunday school assistant principal and organizer of Christmas plays. Their days wer

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