They came to visit family and friends in Ukraine. Some of them arrived a few days before the Russian invasion. Despite calls to leave the country and warnings of the impending war, none of them believed it would actually happen. Not even Ukrainian family and friends wanted to believe that there could be such a terrible possibility.
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And then the war started, and they were forced to leave their loved ones and set out on a journey from capital Kyiv toward the west, toward Lviv, which is far away from the fighting, and from there toward the border into safe Europe.
On Monday, they received a notice from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, relatively on short notice, about an emergency evacuation that would help them cross the border into Poland.
Twenty-nine-year-old Vakhtang, who was born in Georgia and lives in the Krayot area, came to Ukraine to visit friends.
"I never could have imagined something like this, a war, could happen," he told Israel Hayom while standing at the pickup point near the Israeli consulate in Lviv.
"I arrived on Feb. 21, three days before the war broke out, in Dnipro. I was there when the Russians began bombing. I traveled from there to Kyiv. I saw difficult things in the last few days, including a woman giving birth in a shelter. I spent three nights in Kyiv and managed to get to Kyiv in an organized ride. We were almost shot at as we were leaving Kyiv. Somehow, we managed to pass, because there were children on board too. I served in the IDF, but war is a scary thing. People die. Poor Ukrainians, really. They try to live well but are prevented," he continued.
Thirty-six-year-old Yevgeny, from Eilat, spent half a year with his parents in Kyiv.
"I managed to get to Lviv already on the first day. I did not experience the attacks on Kyiv. My brother lives here. He remained in Lviv. I traveled to the border already, but there were so many people there, I couldn't cross. Today I received a message [from the Foreign Ministry] about the emergency evacuation. I have a little bit of food, but no more than that.
"As I understand, [they] help us cross [the border] quickly. My parents remain in Kyiv because they do not want to leave. They are elderly and they don't feel good about it, so there's nothing to do. I cannot go back to Kyiv, and I decided I'd better return to Israel to try and help my parents from there. Even now, people don't believe it. It's crazy. Ukraine is also my home."
Irena, who used to live in Ramat Gan, returned to Ukraine three years ago to move in with her boyfriend.
"Because of the war I have decided to travel to Israel, otherwise I would have stayed. It was fun here," she said as sirens began to sound across Lviv again. "It goes off for hours on end, day and night, for no reason. [They] decided to keep the residents alert, but have only managed to stress them out. We left Kyiv four days ago. A lot of my friends remained there. What a shame."
Marina, Pavel and their son Eric, from Beersheba, Zaporizhzhia, in south-eastern Ukraine in order to visit their grandmother. They arrived three days before the war broke out. Marina and Pavel made aliyah in 1998.
"We heard that everything was alright and that there wouldn't be a war," Marina said. "We didn't believe a war could occur. We left Zaporizhzhia on a train. We were twelve people in a train compartment that usually houses four. There were a lot of students from India, and women and children who tried to flee.
"At 4:30 a.m. we arrived in Kiev, and then heard the sirens. The train went black. We closed all the windows. We were told to turn off our phones. We waited for two hours, and then the train began to ride again, without the lights on. We heard shootings and sirens. From Kyiv, the train switched routes and continued on to Lviv, a journey that took 20 hours. It is hard to leave my parents behind, my brother is also there. Who knows what will happen. Thinking of this makes me cry. My parents didn't want to leave and say this is their homeland. They believe everything will be alright."
Young Eric, who was born in Israel, said, "War never leads to anything good. It is not supposed to happen in modern times, especially in such a dirty war. It must come to an end. We are supposed to support each other, not fight each other. My grandfather, my mother's father, served in the Ukrainian army for 30 years, and he was unwilling to leave everything and flee."
Pavel said, "Given the circumstances, many Ukrainians consider defending their lands. I also had similar thoughts. Maybe, I will do it. If the situation exacerbates, I will consider returning."
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