Lidia and Alexei Bychkov
Ukraine, Kharkiv
Israel, Kiryat Shmona, Bat Yam, Tel Aviv
“We never imagined that we would become refugees and have to flee Ukraine. Nor did we anticipate that, after becoming refugees, we would become refuges for the second time, in Israel, but life had other plans for us.
When the Russians invaded Ukraine and the shelling started to shake Kharkiv, we realized we were in a war and faced the risk of being buried under the rubble of Russian bombings. Consequently, we decided to leave Kharkiv. Since our daughter, her husband, and our three grandchildren live in Israel, it was clear from the beginning that Israel would be our country of refuge.
For about a year and a half we lived in Kiryat Shmona in my daughter’s house. Seven people in a four-room house. It wasn’t easy at all, but at least the whole family was together. All our lives we were used to helping and giving to others, and suddenly we were those that needed help, and this is not an easy feeling. Especially when you are in our age.
A few days after the Hamas attack on October 7th, alarms began sounding in Kiryat Shmona, and the fears and anxieties from the Russian bombings resurfaced in our lives. Like most residents of Kiryat Shmona, we were evacuated from the city at the end of October. After a year and a half, we found ourselves refugees once again, for the second time.
Kharkiv is around forty kilometers from Russia and Kiryat Shmona is about two kilometers from Lebanon, so we can’t really return to any of these places in the foreseeable future. We left one war and arrived at another war. With all the difficulties we went through along the way, we are at least happy that we manage to keep our family together. On August 24th this year, we will celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. The war teaches you that keeping your family together is the most important thing there is.”