Ukraine, Mariupol Israel, Haifa “Mariupol is one of the cities that suffered the worst shelling in Ukraine. The city where I spent some of my happiest years was reduced to rubbles. For weeks, we lived under constant Russian bombardment, and sadly, many people I knew were killed. I quickly realized that if I didn’t take responsibility for my family and neighbors, we wouldn’t make it. I had to ensure we had food, water, and medicine every day just to get through each day. The war pushed me to my limits, but fortunately, I found the strength to survive it. During the Russian attack, the hardest part for me was that my daughter wasn’t with me in those initial days. She was trapped in another part of the city, and I couldn’t protect her. Every mother wants to keep her children safe, and at the beginning of the war, I was ...

Ukraine, Kyiv Israel, Kiryat Yam “When the war broke out, we didn’t think it would last that long. We thought it would last two to three months, but certainly not more than two years. In the early months of the conflict, my mother’s health began to deteriorate, and I quickly realized that if we stayed in Ukraine, we wouldn’t be able to provide her with the necessary medical care. She could potentially die as a result. I found myself in the difficult position of having to decide whether to split my family to ensure her well-being. My husband, Dimitriy, had already enlisted in the Ukrainian army and was fighting against the Russians. Deciding to leave Ukraine with the children meant leaving him behind, a choice that was one of the hardest I’ve ever had to make. Ultimately, we had to split the family. I left with the children and my ...

Ukraine, Litsinova (a village near the city of Mykolaiv) Israel, Ashkelon “When the war in Ukraine broke out, my mother and I fled to Switzerland. My mother chose to stay there, and I came to Israel following my husband Oleksandr, who was already working here in the Ashkelon area as a construction worker. We lived a normal life, distant from the war in Ukraine, and not long after arriving in Israel, I gave birth to Mikhailo. We fled the war in Ukraine, only to find ourselves caught in a war once again in Israel. On Saturday, October 7th, at 6:31 a.m., a massive barrage of rockets struck Ashkelon. We were aware of the rockets fired from Gaza and understood that the ‘Iron Dome’ missile defense system successfully intercepts a substantial number of these missiles However, during the missile barrage on October 7th, Oleksandr and I were shaking with fear. It ...

Ukraine, Dnipro Israel, Bat Yam “For me, the war began not on February 24, but the day before, when my friend informed me that over 50 tanks were stationed at the border with Russia. It really made me panic, and I began to consider whether I should abandon everything and escape. On the morning of the Russian invasion, I could hardly believe that Russia had actually launched a full-scale war against Ukraine. Our closest neighbors? Why? I hoped it was all just a bad dream and that I would wake up to find it wasn’t real. Unfortunately, this nightmare has been going on for more than 2.5 years. When our President addressed the nation, saying, ‘We are introducing martial law throughout our country,’ I couldn’t breathe. Then I saw a message from my best friend: ‘Anya, it’s all started, take Eva and leave.” At that moment, I felt overwhelmed with ...

Kharkiv, Ukraine Haifa, Israel “Unfortunately, wars are something I know all too well. I was born in Odessa in 1929, and when World War II broke out, the shock waves of the war reached us as well. In 1941, when German forces were very close to us, my parents, who had already heard what the Germans had done to Jews all across Europe, decided not to take any chances and that the whole family would flee to Siberia. It was the first time in my life that I became a refugee. I still remember the lack of food, the hunger and the freezing cold of Siberia. The second war in my life broke out two years ago, and I actually didn’t believe it would knock on my door. The war with Russia had been going on for ten years, but it was limited to southern and southeastern Ukraine, regions quite ...

Ukraine, Kyiv Israel, Bat Yam, “Have you ever asked yourself, what you would take with you if you had to run away from home? For me the answer was very clear. Although I had a very small suitcase, I filled half of it with my sketchbooks. I wanted to fill the other half with my watercolors. It was a very obvious choice, because my art represents me in the best way. This is who I am, and this is what I want to take with me wherever I go. But fear and anxiety paralyzed me. I said to myself: ‘Yulia, how can you even think about paintings and colors, if you don’t even know if you’ll live another hour?’ I had fifteen minutes to make a decision and, in the end, I took with me only the sketchbooks and I left the watercolors in Kyiv, thinking that the war would ...

Ukraine, Kupyansk Israel, Haifa “I come from the city of Kupyansk, which is located in eastern Ukraine, near the border with Russia. At the beginning of the war, the Russians occupied my city, and for three months we lived under the Russian occupation. Those were three long and scary months. We were without electricity, barely had access to drinking water, and were entirely cut off from the outside world. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, my parents decided that my grandmother and I should flee the city. We managed to escape through a special humanitarian corridor and eventually reached our relatives in Israel. Leaving my parents behind in a war zone was incredibly difficult, especially with no clear idea of when I would see them again. Despite the heartache, I had no other option. Fortunately, three months after I left, my parents managed to escape from Ukraine and we were ...

Ukraine, Kyiv Israel, Haifa “When the war broke out, we constantly heard alarms and explosions around Kyiv and, to be honest, I was not prepared for the war to break out. Suddenly, I had to manage essentials like securing drinking water and figuring out how to charge my cell phone to stay connected with the outside world. In Kyiv, the basements and shelters were crowded with people seeking refuge from the shelling. It was a dire situation where you couldn’t be sure if you would wake up alive the next morning. As the shelling did not stop, I realized that I had to run for my life. I packed some food and essentials, then got into my car. My direction of travel was west, towards Poland, but because of the war and the chaos it created, I had to improvise my route. Bridges were bombed, roads were blocked, so it ...

Ukraine, Kyiv Israel, Ramat Gan “I didn’t really believe that the war with Russia would break out and that Russia would invade Ukraine. I lived in the center of Kyiv and the battles over the years against Russia were in the east and south of the country, so I didn’t really believe that the war would reach Kyiv as well. I was sure that Russia was trying to ‘show off its muscles’ and in the end it wouldn’t really start a full-scale war against us. When the war broke out on February 24th, I was in Budapest at a conference of the Jewish Agency and I was supposed to return four days later to Kyiv, but all the flights to Ukraine were canceled. Being away from your country during such a crisis, with no way to get back, is an incredibly difficult and unsettling experience. In the first month, in ...

Ukraine, Kovel Israel, Bat Yam “Kovel is located in the west of Ukraine, away from the front lines, but we still experienced frequent alarms. Russian missiles landed just seven kilometers from my home, so I understand what it’s like to live under the constant threat of attack. Additionally, being so close to the Belarusian border, we faced constant rumors of a potential Russian invasion from that direction, which kept our anxiety levels high. It’s impossible to live like this, especially with a young child to care for. I decided it was best for us to leave Ukraine, and I arrived in Israel with my daughter, Melanie. The reality is that we left one war only to find ourselves in another. When the war in Israel began, the sounds of my neighbor’s screams and the blaring alarms made me feel as if I were back in Ukraine. But, Despite the anxieties ...