Nikolai Korsun, colonel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and ATO participant, military chaplain: “God is there, in the trenches of the front line, but where are we?”

At KEMO’s spring prayer, we talked with Mykola Korsun, colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, military chaplain of the Christian Rescue Service and Kyiv Messianic Jewish Congregation (KEMO). We talked about war and resistance to evil, the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” and Christians in the military, mobile dentistry and chaplaincy, as well as unbelievers in the trenches and awakening in Ukraine.

Nikolai, please tell us first about your path to God.

I came to God in April 1993, while in the first year of the Military Command and Communications Institute in Kiev. Since then I have been a believer and served God all my life.

Since 2014, I have been a member of KEMO, which was introduced to me by my religious friends from Israel. The clergy of the community somehow got to Israel and stayed with my friends – that’s how they learned about the existence of a messianic congregation in Kiev and suggested that I go to KEMO on Shabbat.

God touched me deeply at the meeting and my Jewish blood spoke in me. The Bible opened up to me in a new way, from a Jewish point of view, the depth of the Jew opened up, and I realized that I had to stay in this congregation and develop towards the service of Messianic Judaism.

At that time, I served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, I already had the rank of colonel, and I left military service only in 2017. I am now in my sixth year of retirement, a veteran of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, having served for 25 years. I also have the status of a participant in the ATO (Anti-terrorist Operation), because I fought in Donbass in 2017, I have the honor of defending Avdiivka.

After the ATO, I felt mild post-traumatic stress disorder and stress from everything that was happening there, the war, the society that was not “in touch” with what was happening. But gradually, thanks in large part to the church and the service, I adjusted to civilian life and thought that I would never put on a military uniform again.

But you were forced to… and this, as I understand it, is now connected with chaplaincy?

Right. In 2021, an internal structure reform was underway in our community, and I took up the position of coaching. One of the tasks of a coach is to help a person take the next step in life. I myself took several important steps in my life and therefore decided to try my hand at chaplaincy, that is, serving the Word in the army.

I went to the front line with my fellow chaplains (I remind you, it was in 2021), in the villages of Stanytsia Luganskaya, Sizoe and Bolotjanoe – we served there with the 79th brigade and came there about once a month. And then one day we got to the espionage team who were in the “grey” zone – it was the reconnaissance group of the 1st battalion of the 79th brigade. We brought them what they wanted – food, medical supplies, books. And, I remember, there was a guy called “Doc” who was holding all this stuff – so happy, glad someone came to him. And I ask him: “Well, brother, have you seen the chaplains at least once?” “Yes, I’ve seen them twice. The first time – in 2014 and the second time – after 7 years, here you are … “.

At first I was very happy and proud – how awesome we are, how cool that we came… And then I was pierced by the pain of realizing that there was no one else there but us. Not before or after us. There was no priest, no chaplain, no one to pray for them and support them. I felt the pain that there is no church there and the soldiers are left to fend for themselves.

Interestingly, that time we met the commander of this unit, and this year we met him again.

How did this happen?

The fact is that we have mobile dentistry and we treated the teeth of the boys of the 79th Brigade. And then a guy came, I looked at him and realized that I’ve seen him somewhere before. And he told me the same thing. We remembered – it was a very interesting meeting. By that time he had already had four serious and very painful concussions and fragments that could not be retrieved. Many of his colleagues died, including the same Doc with whom we prayed the prayer of salvation in 2021.

And the problem is that people die and go to hell, but no one prays with them, no one guides them in faith.

But let’s pause now and fast forward to February 24, 2022. What was that day like for you, what were you thinking at the time?

I had no special thoughts, I went to work in the morning. The fact is that I have a small business, employees and customers depended on me – I had to get the job done. We completed our tasks, I paid everyone’s salaries, gave bonuses to the workers and told everyone to save themselves if possible.

After that, in the first days of the war, I was in Kiev, I helped different people – I took them to train stations, because there were practically no taxis, and people with whole families with children were standing at bus stops waiting for transport that could take them out of the cities.

Then I took the families of the military to Lviv in several cars – there was a moment when they were afraid of the possible capture of Kiev and that in that case the occupiers would manipulate their parents, wives and children. As a result, a healthy warrior may suffer and many, many die.

Have you thought about returning to the armed forces as a soldier?

I had no plans to return to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, although I expected it, because I was assigned to a specific military unit – I have a specific job, position and specific responsibilities. Before that, I was called regularly, once every six months, phones were checked, location was specified, mobilization lists were specified. But when the war started, something must have gone wrong, because I came to the military registration and recruitment office and they told me: “Go home now and wait for orders.”

While waiting for the order, did the attention switch back to chaplaincy?

This service continued all the time, just with the start of a full-scale war, the situation changed. We also had a lot of casualties on our side, people were scared, a lot of soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder – in general, our chaplain’s support was very much needed.

Therefore, we, as volunteers and chaplains, brought and delivered something – buses full of food, ammunition, uniforms, boots and everything that our defenders needed. At the beginning of the war, there was nothing like that, so we visited the soldiers, held services in different divisions.

As a professional soldier and at the same time a believer, can you express your opinion on the question of Christians participating in war? Can a believer pick up a gun? Since there are very different opinions on this matter in the Christian environment…

Since I served in command positions in military units, I also studied this topic in the pre-war period. Believers-soldiers sometimes came to me and said: “I will not take up arms or take an oath.” I replied: “Okay, I’m also a believer and I have a gun. Let’s talk… Where in the Bible does it say you can’t take up arms?” Well, that was usually the end of it.

Therefore, I think that the Bible does not forbid taking up a gun and defending yourself. Attacking, showing aggression, hurting someone, killing and humiliating – this is not our job, but believers have the right to defend themselves if someone comes to their home with the intention of killing their family. Believers must care for their neighbors and seek their salvation to the best of their ability.

Obviously, if 20 people attack you and you’re unarmed – what can you do? The simple task is to survive. But if you can plan to protect yourself and your family and protect your village, city and country, and for that you have to go into some structure, then I don’t think you are sinning. Neither as a believer nor as a non-believer. The Bible does not say that it is forbidden to take up arms and that it is a sin to defend yourself. There is no such thing in Scripture.

Another problem is that specific communities and churches have internal bylaws that dictate that there are clergy in that community/congregation who specifically serve God – and it is believed that such people should not take up arms. That their task and mission is different – praying, serving people affected by war, etc. That is, it is the internal charter of such a community that prescribes such behavior.

The whole Bible – both the Old Testament and the New Testament – writes about war, and even God Himself leads an army, He Himself is a warrior. He fights with man against evil. And if a person does not fight evil, does not show any resistance to evil, then what is his faith? Therefore, evil must be called evil, it must be resisted in some way, all those who resist it must be supported – make trench candles, carry food, donate – all this is resistance to evil. And especially the voice of the church should be heard saying that evil is evil.

Therefore, chaplains come to the soldiers and explain from the Bible’s point of view what evil is and how to resist it. Someone prays, someone takes up a weapon, but evil must be resisted. And the church must be on the side of light and support the resistance to darkness.

Tell us a bit more about how you serve in the front lines

I conduct whole trainings and seminars on these topics in various churches and trade unions, since we are constantly visiting soldiers and we already have a whole ministry structure and procedure. This means that I could talk about this topic for two days, but I will give you a brief overview.

Arriving at the military unit, we greet the soldiers, hug them. Look them in the eye. We say thank you to them. We communicate with them with a smile. We have female chaplains on duty who travel with us. And they thank the soldiers for doing their duty and saving women and children. They say that thanks to the service at the front, women can take care of their families, take their children to school and kindergarten and live a peaceful life.

This is actually very important for soldier motivation. Because sometimes he is at the front a week, a month, a year, and the idea of service begins to disappear. And when he sees a female chaplain who represents mothers, wives and daughters, he sees in her his wife, mother or daughter who says: “Daddy, you are needed here! Husband, we need you here! Thank you for being here…”

After that, a chaplain who is a soldier talks about what the Bible says about soldiers. Interestingly, the military is presented positively in the Scriptures, with some exceptions. The letter to Timothy says that in serving God, one must follow the example of the military – that is, discipline, responsibility, self-sacrifice etc. That is why we tell soldiers that God and the Bible approve of them, that they are good fellows and heroes because they defend their country, that God appreciates it all. The letter to the Romans says that the military are God’s servants, whom He uses to punish evildoers and iniquity.

Then we’ll talk about the morality of military service. When the soldiers came to John the Baptist and asked what to do, he pointed out three things: do not offend anyone, do not slander and be satisfied with your wages. We go through it step by step.

What does “do no harm” mean? This is especially true of those you fight alongside. Respect your commanders, respect your brothers, because you have no other neighbors. Do not lie and do not insult each other.

“Do not slander” means that soldiers must tell the truth. If you made a mistake, messed up, hit the post – come to the commander and tell the truth, because he makes decisions which affect people’s lives. All this is supported and accepted by the commanders.

“Be content with your wages” – this means that soldiers should not steal, loot or take anything from the civilian population. And that in this we differ from the occupiers – we are in our own land and someone else’s goods will not bring us happiness. Soldiers understand this too.

Interestingly, nowhere in the Bible does it say that military personnel must lay down their arms to become disciples. No, you can continue in military service, but just try to fulfill these points.

This, I hear, is a cause for concern among some commanders. You chaplains now come here, preach, and then the soldiers throw down their weapons and leave their position…

Unfortunately, the commands have sometimes been misinterpreted. There is a “Thou shalt not kill” command, right? Sometimes it reaches absurdity – some believe that even killing a fly is a sin. I know such people who “do not kill God’s creation because it is a sin”. Cockroaches, for example, are not poisoned. It is difficult for such people to live, in general … We need to help them, because otherwise these cockroaches will probably soon live in their heads.

In fact, the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” is a criminal commandment, it has nothing to do with warfare. The Bible describes God’s holy wars, and God Himself sometimes said that one or the other must be destroyed because it is unclean. Of course, it had nothing to do with murder.

Murder as a sin is committed for personal revenge, robbery, gain etc. It means that it is a sin against one’s neighbor. It was like the criminal code of the time. Even today, when a person kills someone, they face the consequences of their actions. The military never said anything like that. Unfortunately, not everyone knows this and does not talk about it.

In fact, there are people who are afraid to protect their family, afraid to take up arms, afraid to be killed, afraid to give their life for their neighbor – so they can sometimes manipulate and say “Thou shalt not kill!” We know of such cases when some “priest” came to the ward to the wounded soldiers and said that “you are murderers, you must repent!”. There were also moments when the entire unit almost laid down their arms after the arrival of such “priests”.

At the beginning of the interview, you mentioned mobile dentistry. What is it all about and how did it all start?

As I said, the main idea here is that everyone now has to somehow resist evil and help in this matter. We as a nation must stand up to the enemy. And everyone in my family helps our defenders protect our land in one way or another.

My son Pavel is a dentist. And I see the serious pain of the soldiers related to their teeth, because they have nowhere to treat their teeth when they are in the trenches, and no one can help them. That’s why we came up with this kind of mobile dentistry.

Initially, we did not hear about it at all, and on the Internet I found only a few companies in Moscow that produce such dental machines. Later we got acquainted with the Trident Foundation – they are volunteer dentists with a lot of experience in this matter. And after all, it is necessary not only to create such dentistry, but also to support the entire process. The main category to whom we provide this assistance are military personnel on the front lines, as well as orphans and migrants. That is, the poor and people affected by war.

For example, recently at the defense line, we served about 50 people in three days. In financial terms, if people paid for these services somewhere in private dentistry, it would be about 200-300 thousand hryvnias. We do it for free.

Oh that’s a big deal, very serious help!

“It’s not even that these people don’t have money. The problem is that there is simply nowhere to do it. We heard stories of how a soldier had his tooth removed in Kramatorsk for UAH 7,000. Or about trying to pull out a tooth with a bayonet knife. Or if the dentist worked without anesthesia. And soldiers are sometimes afraid of dentists, because they think that “a dentist is going to pull out their teeth.”

I remember the first time we used mobile dentistry and one of the two soldiers guarding us was called in for an inspection. We just had to make sure everything was working properly. So, the other man did not agree to sit in the chair under any circumstances.

In general, we examined this man, we saw a tooth broken into three pieces – exposed nerves. How did this happen? “Well,” he said, “there was buckwheat, with a small stone in it … I broke my teeth.” “And how long have you had it?” “Half a year…” “Doesn’t hurt?”. “Hurts…”. And there’s no choice, you know? “What about the dentist?” “Am I stupid? After all, he’s going to pull the tooth out…”. In other words, he has to drive 100 km, but he is afraid because he thinks he has to pull out the tooth.

Another story. There was a very powerful fighter, a warrior of the warrior clan, no joke – when he got to our dentist, his hands were shaking. He sat in the chair and the tears flowed. In his case, we were dealing with a strong childhood phobia… We talked to him, he trusted us, and in the end he was just happy that we came 800 km away to him for dental treatment. People are just happy because they haven’t been to the dentist in decades.

There was also a case when a female soldier had an accident because they were driving a car at night and you can only drive on the front line at night without headlights. They hit a tree, her jaw was broken, the teeth were knocked out – ten tooth roots remained. And we removed those remaining teeth and made for her dentures. Of course, there are examples of such operations from ordinary situations, but there are no other options in this field. Under normal conditions, the doctor does not extract more than two teeth at a time, but in our case there is no possibility of waiting, so we immediately provide all possible help. By the way, our car is equipped with both a visiograph and an X-ray – everything you need. Therefore, we will do whatever is necessary. We have even put in implants.

Just yesterday we had 80 policemen assigned for inspection who will soon leave for the combat zone. Not everyone came, half were afraid. But we planned an extra day for them, because those who came, advertised us so much that now we don’t know how to serve them all.

We do our best to help everyone, we refuse no one. If there are cases when orthopedist is needed – for example, to make crowns, we take it on, but it is no longer free work, because other people have to be paid for this part of the work.

Can you talk more about the front line? They say “there are no atheists in the trenches” – is this true?

That’s right, all those in the trenches are praying. Moreover, we serve, among others the “Aazov people” – among them there are people who have some incomprehensible faith – they are in tattoos … But in close communication it turns out that there is very little “anti-Christianity” among them. Most of the time, tattoos are made to look strong and they have their own “prayers”, when in reality they are just slogans. But they are not really against Christianity at all and are very grateful to us for coming and what we do. We have a tête-à-têt conversation between the chaplain and each soldier, as we interact, we learn about his family, his parents, what he is like and how he is doing – generally it turns out that they are all simple guys who are looking for God.

So I can say that all those who are in the first defensive positions are believers. Why? I went through it myself, saw it and felt it myself. A person falls into a helpless state when nothing depends on you. Whether you survive or not is out of your control. And in such a state, a person has no choice but to realize that his life is worth nothing and nothing depends on him.

At that moment, a person realizes that there is a God who will save him. He sees the mine coming and it doesn’t explode, that the bullet flies by – because someone is praying for him. And there are many such cases and man associates it only with the reality of God.

There was a story recently of a guy who was a psychologist before the war and when he was 13 he was disappointed in God because his mother didn’t get better even though he prayed for her. This means that the person suffered some trauma because they were not taught in faith and what it means to pray for healing. So, two days later this man wrote that God answered our prayers and something happened that he had dreamed of for a very long time. And he connected this event with our prayer.

This means that on the front line are all believers, they are simply not taught in the faith, they do not know how to pray and who to believe, who will help them – they do not know this presence of God. The second, third line, around Kiev, here the situation is already different, people themselves say about it: “We came from scratch and after two weeks we are already praying less to God. After a month, we will forget to pray at all … “. They have no church, no priest to support them and no chaplain.

Here in Kiev, everyone is already smart, everyone tells you what to believe. A completely different atmosphere and environment. So we take advantage of the fact that the people there are really religious and try to come there and support them as warriors who protect our country and future, our children, churches and communities.

The fact is that the “Russian world”, the “Russian spirit” – in its doctrine there is only the “Orthodox Empire”. This is their national idea and no one else has a place. Everything should be under their control, KGB-FSB, etc. Therefore, if we want to gather in our churches and worship regardless of the “talebearers”, we must help our soldiers win. And so that our soldier comes back to the church because the church helps him to socialize after the war.

By the way, this is one of the important things we are talking about now. We are currently preparing soldiers for post-war socialization. To the fact that you need to take care of your physical body, because there was a very serious psychological, neurological, hormonal malfunction in the body and something needs to be done about it. And that’s how chaplains, churches and communities are now developing military socialization programs.

An important part of this work is the soldier’s confession to the priest. Because what the soldier went through, he can’t tell anyone but the priest. Not to his family or colleagues, but to the priest, and this is one of the most important issues in his rehabilitation. And we also say that only the Lord can help and save him. Therefore, by the way, we are talking about the prevention of alcohol and drug use. This is a strict taboo during hostilities, because if a person is looking for a way out of it, as a way to relieve stress, it is impossible to relieve stress in this way. But then it is necessary to somehow rehabilitate the person, and the church and chaplains help in this.

What can you say to those people who read this interview and feel called to the chaplaincy? Chaplaincy now seems to be in fashion. How to discern God’s call?

In the early days, all people with a conscience began to do something according to their conscience. We are not saying that it is everyone’s duty to take up arms, but that it is a matter of each person’s personal conscience. My opinion is this: if you are a believer and have a conscience and it tells you to do something, chaplaincy is just what you need. You can pray, minister in the Word, support the soldier in Scripture and prayer, do it. If you are a believer then spiritual support is more important than a machine gun. No psychologist, no educational work, no one does that.

Yes, chaplaincy may be in fashion now – but there are still very few of them. We just don’t exist. Even 1% of the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the chaplaincy, the needs of the priest units are not covered. Therefore, I believe that the church today should make its own “spiritual loan agreement” and help our soldiers, help our country win this war. My opinion is that now all priests should be chaplains. I realize I may be exaggerating a bit – but please, you can argue with me.

We have a poem written by a soldier in 1944, a few hours before his death. And in these lines he describes his mental, heart, soul state in which he met God for the first time in his life and got to know Him. And two hours before the attack, he laid in a grenade crater, prayed to God and wrote this poem. And then this slip of paper was found in his pocket, after his death. So, this soldier wrote about how he had been deceived all his life by the idea that there was no God. And that only now, a few hours before his death, he truly feels God and His presence.

Therefore, yes, God is in the war, God is in the trenches, God is on the front lines. If we have been praying for revival in our country, now it is coming. And not in Kiev, not in Western Ukraine, but precisely on the front line. If we want to see revival and souls saved, we need to be there where it happens.

God is on the front lines, but where are we?

Interviewer – Alex Fishman

Letter to God

Listen, God, not once in my life
Did I talk to You but today
I want to welcome You!
You know, I was told since childhood
That You don’t exist.
And I, a fool, believed!
I have never seen Uour work…
And so I watched tonight
From the crater that ejected the grenade
to the starry sky,

which was over me
And I suddenly realized, admiring their flickering lights
How cruel can deception be…
I don’t know, God, will You give me Your hand?
But I tell You and You understand me:
Isn’t it strange that in the midst of the most terrible hell
The light suddenly dawned on me and I recognized You.
Other than that, I have nothing to say…
It’s just… I’m glad I got to know you.
At midnight we plan to attack,
But I’m not afraid – You look at us…
Signal… Well, well, I have to go…
I feel good with You…
I also want to say
That as You know, this battle will be fierce,
And maybe at night I’ll knock on Your door.
And though I have not been Your friend until now,
But I feel like crying…
My God, You see
It happened to me that everything became clear at night.
Farewell, my God! And I probably won’t be back.
How strange…

But now I’m not afraid of death!

Source: https://ieshua.org/nikolaj-korsun-polkovnik-vsu-i-uchastnik-ato-voennyj-kapellan-bog-tam-v-okopah-na-peredovoj-a-gde-my.htm