Yana Oleksenko
Angela Markova’s daughter
Ukraine, Kyiv, Motyzhyn (Bucha region)
Israel, Petah Tikva
“In Ukraine, we had no safe room or a bomb shelter to take refuge in. The war left us without electricity, water, or food, and we endured it all in -15°C weather. I remember sitting on the cold floor in the basement of our house, surrounded by sacks of potatoes, hearing the distant echoes of explosions, and praying that nothing would happen to my family and me.
We quickly realized that if we wanted to save ourselves, we had to flee. As soon as there was a ceasefire, we got into the car and started driving west. During that drive, I saw so many dead bodies and burnt cars. It is a journey I will never forget for the rest of my life. If we hadn’t managed to escape and reach the Romanian border, I don’t know what would have happened to us.
When the war broke out in Israel on October 7th and I saw on TV the bodies and the burnt cars, it triggered strong memories of traveling that road of death in Ukraine. The sights and smells of that trip came back to me, and it was very stressful and frightening. I managed to escape one war only to find myself in another.
I feel much safer in Israel than in Ukraine, mainly because of two reasons. First, Israel has boom shelters, safe rooms, and air defense systems against missiles – things that hardly exist in Ukraine. Secondly, in Israel, I am in the Holy Land, which I believe miraculously improves the chances that my prayers will be answered.”