Israeli in Ukraine: "When we returned here we thought we could live in peace; this dream has expired" | Israel today

The news of the facilitation that the Israeli government decided to implement yesterday, in order to allow the arrival of non-Jewish Ukrainian refugees who have relatives in Israel, spread very quickly among those concerned - and there are many.

One of them is Ververa, from the town of Zaporizhia on the banks of the Dnipro River, in southwestern Ukraine, one of the main war zones.

Ververa's mother, Ina, is a granddaughter of a Jew, and is therefore entitled to immigrate to Israel.

Ververa and her 8-year-old son Nikita are not eligible for aliyah, although many of their family members, including grandmother and uncles, live in Ashkelon, Ashdod and Carmiel.

However, Vervara would like to come to Israel with her mother and son, and find refuge there for the war only.

I meet the three at Beit Chesed, a local Jewish community organization that has turned its large center of activity into an absorption center for refugees - Jews and non-Jews alike.

Everyone who comes here, is welcome.

"We were afraid of the bombings"

Ververa studied economics in Germany and currently works as a cashier at a large supermarket chain.

She and her family arrived in Leviv on Tuesday, after a long and exhausting train ride, which lasted a day.

"We experienced horror," she says.

"I live in the city center, my parents are on the outskirts of Zaporizhia. We moved in with them because we were afraid of Russian bombing of the city center. "On Monday morning we decided to go to Leviv. Luckily we found a train that was about to set off. The trip was difficult. We drove in the dark. We were 100 people in the caravan. We could not sleep because we were afraid things would be stolen from us.

Another problem that makes it difficult to arrive in Israel is the lack of a white passport, Nikita.

"We are now trying to go to Poland, maybe with a bus that 'Chesed' will organize, where we will try to find a Jewish organization that can help us quickly contact a Ukrainian consulate, to issue a passport for my son. The authorities here deal with closed passports. "Only to pass the time there until the end of the war. My husband enlisted in the army, and also my sister and her husband, who are doctors and volunteered to serve at the front. They are all still in Zaporizhia, waiting for the Russian soldiers to arrive."

Will have to leave after a month.

Maxim, the son Lev and his Israeli partner, Photo: Eldad Beck

Maxim, whom I met the other day waiting for the Israeli rescue bus from Malviv, with his Israeli partner and their young son Lev - decided to give up arriving in Israel.

He will only receive a tourist visa for a month, at the end of which he will be forced to leave Israel and leave his spouse and son behind.

Since it is not known how much longer the war will last, everyone decided to stay in Lviv and try to find a solution to their plight from here.

Igor Chervko, director of Chesed, also decided to stay in Levib, his hometown, although he is an Israeli citizen, has lived in Israel for eight years and has a family there.

When he returned to Levib with his wife, he thought that after the constant tension in Israel, they would be able to live quietly.

That dream has expired.

"I and all my friends stay here," he explains, "I have no conscience to leave all the people we care for regularly, those who come as refugees and those who work here. I also do not have time to think about all this war. I decided to just do all "I can help people. I believe the Russians will not come here. The West will not let that happen."

Igor describes the help of "Chesed": "We host refugees here - mainly Jews and Israelis who come to us through Jewish organizations. Everyone who is referred to us, including family members of Jews, is accepted here. We provide them with accommodation, food, showers and other things. "At this stage we are not sending them to the border because we have decided to focus on aid. Not all organizations can deal with transporting refugees to the borders. Most refugees are trying to reach the borders. Several dozen people came to us. Today people came by train from Kiev and Kharkov."

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