Diana Bondariva
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 reunited in Israel.
These three months were marked by profound uncertainty, as I had no way of knowing what would happen to my parents. Communication in Ukraine was often limited, and we couldn’t always stay in touch. Each day, I anxiously awaited a message confirming their safety, and on the days when no message arrived, my anxiety level would escalate. I was in Israel, while they were in a war-torn Ukraine, with no certainty about whether they are alive or dead.
The war in Ukraine turned me into a refugee, and I had to deal with situations I never thought I would ever have to deal with. Despite these hardships, I am grateful for having navigated them successfully and for discovering a strength within myself that I had not realized I possessed before.”