In February 2022, shortly after the Russian army invaded Ukraine, and the bloody inferno of the war began, Zhenya Znimonsky, the Ukrainian finance manager at the Israeli high-tech company Yael Expatik, found himself required to perform a stressful task: to locate two employees of the company - a man and a woman - who had lost contact in the great chaos.
"I moved from shelter to shelter in the city trying to find them," he recalls.
"I remember that during the searches I was surprised to meet happy children in the shelters, because in the first days of the war they enjoyed the freedom from school. They still did not understand how the world was going to turn upside down for them and their parents."
Zhenya soon reconnected with the missing worker, after locating her in the shelter and helping her settle in a safe place and reconnect with work.
But he could not find the other employee, Yevgeny Horney, whose traces had disappeared, anywhere.
As part of the searches, the witness arrived at the administration offices in Kharkiv, where he discovered that the employee had been hastily drafted into the army and sent to the front of the battles.
"Yevgeni must have received a weapon, which as a citizen he didn't really know how to use. In the first two weeks of the war, he was sent to the front lines, and he didn't return from there even when his unit returned. He was declared missing. I looked for him in the hospitals in the Ukrainian territory, and also in the territories occupied by the Russians, through Locals I sent to find out about his fate there."
After more than a week of fruitless searches came the painful turn: Zhenya came across the picture of the missing worker, as published on a Russian website.
It was actually a photo of his body, and the accompanying caption stated that he was killed.
"It was a difficult thing to grasp and digest," Zhenya's voice choked.
"Yevgeni's mother was unable to determine with certainty from the photo that it was indeed her son, and in fact his body has not been returned to his parents to this very day. Officially, he is still presumed missing. I consulted with lawyers in his case, and they told me that a photo on a website does not constitute official legal proof that a person Dead. We need to get a DNA sample from the body, which can be verified.
"I continued to keep in touch with his parents, and our company paid his family a few more months of salary, as a gesture, to help them get by during a difficult time in their lives."
Is his mother still looking for him?
"She is a woman of incredible will, even though every word about him hurts her very much. In one of the conversations I had with her recently, after more than six months had passed since the publication of the photo, she said that she and her husband had not yet lost hope. According to her, although the person in the photo looks very much like Livni, She heard about cases where people looked dead, but ended up being alive. She told me: 'I don't want a day to come when my son comes and asks: Mom, why didn't you look for me?'"
A lesson in an Israeli brotherhood
Digital nomadism has gained momentum in the last decade, and the free connection to the Internet has freed many workers from the need to remain bound to a specific country.
Fashion thrives in Corona, and in the last year it received a painful push from the direction of the war in Ukraine, which forced even the most dedicated workers to flee for their lives and work in other countries as "digital refugees".
Unlike the stereotype of refugees with worn clothes and hunger for bread, known from wars, the digital nomads are mostly lively and modern young people who are mainly engaged in the high-tech fields.
But like all refugees, regardless of who they are, the rape-nomads from Ukraine also miss the homeland they left, and face the anxieties of the home they left behind and the fear of the future in the foreign land.
This is also what happened to the employees of "Yael Expetic", the Ukrainian arm of the Israeli technology company "Yael Group", which was established in 1963 as a software house that specializes in providing external services for data processing.
The company, whose main offices are located in Kfar Saba, employs 2,000 people, of which about 200 are in the branch office in Ukraine.
Until the beginning of the Russian invasion, in February 2022, the branch operated in spacious offices in Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, taking advantage of the fact that manpower in Ukraine is considered significantly cheaper compared to Western countries.
The war caused most of the Ukrainian workers to disperse everywhere, and the senior ones migrated to other countries, including Georgia, Poland, Germany and Spain.
For months they have been making sure to hold daily team meetings on Zoom, but last week for the first time they came out from behind the screens and made a long journey, each from their temporary residence, to a face-to-face team meeting in Warsaw, the capital of Poland.
On February 24, 2022, the fateful day when Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to invade its neighbor to the west, the workers in a mercilessly bombed city suddenly found themselves in a combat zone, and many had to quickly flee for their lives - with the help of an Israeli aid package opened by the company.
On the day the war broke out, Zhenya (40), who has been working for the company since 2011, was spending time at his home in Kharkiv with his 7-year-old son and his wife - when suddenly they heard a horrific explosion.
"We all prostrated on the floor, and I automatically told my son: 'It's not a plane, it's a Grad missile.'
"It was terrible. My calendar was full that week with work meetings, but in one moment everything was canceled. As a company, we tried to understand what we should do, and the first question was how we would provide security to our employees and their families.
"We thought about how to quickly move workers from the east of the country to the center, an area that is considered calmer. I myself became a driver and drove workers with their families to the train stations, and in cases of need - also to other cities."
Didn't you want to get out of town yourself?
"No, I preferred to help everyone who needed help. On one occasion, one of our employees asked me to take his children to the train, so that they could leave the city. That day, a technical fault occurred in my car, and because of the entanglement, I paid an exorbitant price to fix it - the main thing is that I would be able to pick up the children on time.
"I took them, but when we got close to the train station, another Russian bombardment started. We immediately left the car and I ran with the children, with great stress and panic around us. Fortunately, we managed to get to the train at the very last minute."
After making sure that the families of the workers reached a relatively safe shelter, Zhenya also moved his wife, son and mother to western Ukraine, far from the fighting.
Then he returned alone to Kharkov, to continue attending to the needs of the workers.
Only when the summer came, and the war showed no signs of abating, Zhenya decided to reunite with his family members, and from there they all left together for Germany, a country where refugees receive financial assistance.
From his newly exiled place, he continues to work as a digital refugee.
Already at the beginning of the fighting, the building next to the company's main offices in Kharkiv was bombed, and with the destruction the bubble of security that the digital world gives to those sitting behind the computers was also shattered.
The Israeli management, led by CEO Doron Gigi and senior vice president of the group, Ofir Hazot, who are used to functioning in emergency situations in Israel, made a decision to mobilize and teach the Ukrainians a lesson in brotherhood and blue-white humanitarianism.
"We are a company with a soul," emphasizes Chazut.
"Our workers scattered around the world? We will take care of them. No one died because of the war, as we did not lay off during the Corona. As far as we are concerned, the personal stories of the workers in the war are integrated and mixed in the business. The war will not stop us."
The meeting in Warsaw.
"There were quite a few American customers who canceled our contracts, but the Israelis understood the situation we were in", photo: Hila Timur Ashur
"We were afraid that the building would collapse"
Close to the crossroads on the outskirts of Warsaw.
Zero degrees outside.
A taxi stops at the entrance to a small hotel whose lobby is decorated with fir trees.
Ofir Chazot gets off and immediately receives a warm welcome from Alexander (Sasha) Panchenko (36), customer manager of the company, who arrived for the meeting from Georgia a short time before.
The two release a brave and strong masculine hug, like two graduates of an elite unit who meet in the reserves after years.
Then they exchange tired smiles, and Sasha informs Ofir that most of the management team members are still on the road and will arrive during the night.
At breakfast the next day, the executives meet at the hotel.
Dmitriy (Dima) Kharchenko, director of Ukrainian branch operations;
Anna Kanish, recruitment manager;
Katrina (Kate) Malshkova, sales manager;
Anastasia Golobin, client manager;
as well as Alexander (Sasha) Panchenko, Evgenia Burik and Yana Ruben - all three are customer managers.
Those present, who are happy to meet after the time that has passed and share with each other the stories of their wanderings for the first time, embrace with European tenderness, trying to keep away the disturbing thoughts of the destruction in the homeland.
They are encouraged by the knowledge that Warsaw was also a destroyed city, which was rebuilt after World War II - so a similar reconstruction of Ukraine, somewhere in the future, is still possible.
"In the tense days before the Russian invasion, there were hi-tech companies in Ukraine that prepared buses in advance for the rapid evacuation of workers," clarifies Dima Kharchenko.
"I preferred a different plan - that each of our employees would leave on their own if necessary, and we would show up to help. In retrospect, it turned out that I was right in my approach: the buses that the other companies had ordered did not arrive, because of the traffic jams and breakdowns everywhere. We, on the other hand, mapped all the employees and the needs - And we started helping everyone individually."
20 years ago, Dima studied mathematics at the Weizmann Institute in Israel.
In 2011 he founded "Expectic" in Ukraine, and later sold it to the Yael group ("I made an exit").
Today he runs the company as an employee.
When the war broke out, he stayed in Georgia and worked there remotely ("the people there didn't understand why I was with the phone in my hand all day"), but two months later he set out on an arduous journey by bus and train through seven countries, all the way to Poland.
In Warsaw he rented an apartment and an office - from which he continues to manage.
Kate Melashkova (29), a sales manager, ran a dance studio with her husband in Kharkiv until the beginning of the war, at the same time as her work at Hi-Tech.
"The first week of the war was terrible. Kharkiv is a big city with a million and a half inhabitants, 30 km from Russia.
The Russian army was very close.
There were bombs all the time, and we were left without food and water.
We lived in a 16-story building and went down to the basement, but we were afraid that if the building collapsed we would be buried inside.
"My husband and I decided to move into our dance studio, in an area of low buildings. We sealed the windows with black cloths, because the Russian soldiers who came to the city center shot every night. When we heard alarms we ran to the shelter and lay down on the floor, until one of the shellings we couldn't take it anymore and realized we had to leave. The next day, a rocket hit the house next door, and all the windows were shattered. We were very afraid that the next rocket would hit us."
They decided to flee to a more protected city in southwestern Ukraine, Kamnitz Podolsky, but their car wouldn't start due to the freezing cold, and not a single professional agreed to come, not even for a high price.
Finally they managed to overcome the problem on their own, and at dawn they fled Kharkiv by car.
"On the way, we saw that the city was destroyed, and our soldiers were roaming the streets. Because of the traffic jams, it took us five hours to get out of there, but compared to others, who took 12 hours to get out of the city, for us it was truly a miracle."
The children of Margarita, assistant to the CEO of the company, during their wanderings during the war, photo: from the private album
Protection to buy Materna
After five days they arrived in Kamnitz Podolski, where they were reunited with Kate's parents and grandmother - who had arrived separately.
"We lived in an empty apartment that my parents' friends let us in. We thought it would only be for a few weeks, but when we saw that we weren't coming home, we found a new apartment, and this time we also started a dance group, to release some pressure. Meanwhile, a friend whose house had been bombed entered our apartment in Kharkiv."
For Anastasia Golobin (34), this is the second season of wandering in the struggle between Ukraine and Russia.
"In 2013, the Russians started bombing the Crimean Peninsula, my birthplace, and occupied it. In the media it was presented as if the Ukrainian residents wanted to be part of Russia, but that was not true. Maybe a few. Most of the people I know left for Europe. My husband and I decided to move To Kharkov, a place we believed was calm and quiet, and we even bought an apartment there and decorated it. Until Putin decided to visit us again."
A few days before the inferno broke out, Anastasia and her husband were on vacation in Zanzibar, and got stuck there - until they were rescued by an Israeli client of the company.
"The client asked me on WhatsApp if I needed any help. I answered him that in the days before the start of the war, I withdrew all my money from the bank and left it as cash at home, so my credit card abroad was limited, because I had nothing to withdraw from the account.
"Without money we couldn't buy plane tickets, so the Israeli client bought us seats on a flight to Germany, and from mid-March we rent an apartment there, work remotely and dream of Kharkiv."
Anastasia notes with appreciation that no Israeli client abandoned her during the difficult days, even though the service she could provide was naturally limited, due to the uncertainty in her life.
"There were quite a few American clients who canceled our contracts, but the Israelis paid in advance and even gave a bonus, because they understood the situation we were in."
Anna Kanish (35), from Makharkov, was also going to go on vacation in the Caribbean with her husband in February 2022.
"We packed suitcases for a vacation, but because of the tension we decided to stay in Ukraine. The next day I saw the bombs falling on the city in a kind of blinding yellow light. Some fell 100 meters from us. I remember a lot of fire and a strong smell of smoke."
Within an hour her house was hit by two bombs that fell on a nearby garden.
"We decided to leave immediately. I put our two children, 6 and 8 years old, and the suitcases we packed for vacation into the car - and I drove at a crazy speed of 150 km/h.
I didn't care about the law, I just wanted to get the family to a safe place."
From Ukraine she came to Moldova, and from there she drove to Germany via Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
"There are now no less than six Ukrainian children in my daughter's class in Germany. They are taking online classes from the school in Ukraine."
Why did you choose Germany?
"We wanted to relax in a peaceful and normal country. Besides, we speak a little of the language, because my husband works for a high-tech company that has a German branch. They welcomed us here with open arms, and our children are also learning the language quickly."
Since the day you left you have not returned to Ukraine?
"In the summer I went to visit my parents, who stayed in Kharkiv. I dream of the moment when the war ends and we can all return safely. It's hard for me to know that I left the whole family there. I read the news on the app and I'm afraid."
Yana Ruben (31) has been a customer manager in the company for six and a half years.
When the war broke out, she was in Kharkov, at the end of the maternity leave of her eldest daughter, Katya.
"When the bombings started, I thought it was thunder. My husband took the baby so I could sleep well, he didn't want to worry me," she recalls.
But in the morning, in view of the dire situation, they decided to move to relatives, 100 km from Kharkiv. "It was supposed to be a quiet place, far from the fighting, but three days after we arrived it was bombed and occupied, and we were under Russian occupation for a whole month.
"I don't remember anything from that time, I repress. I was only focused on the baby, and that helped me overcome what was happening around me. I had problems breastfeeding her, maybe because of the mental stress, and it was also not possible to buy milk replacer in the stores, which were closed. Fortunately, My relatives, who were close to the government, obtained medicine and matrena, so I had something to take care of and feed the little one."
What do you still remember about the Russian occupation, which was associated with quite a few atrocities?
"Inside the neighborhood, I remember complete silence. Silence. Everything was closed, and people didn't know what to do. There were bombings and battles all around. After a month, we reached a man who knew the hidden ways out of the area, and he agreed to guide us for $100. We followed him in a car through fields and forests , roads that don't appear on the map. After hours we arrived in the city of Lviv in eastern Ukraine, close to the border with Poland, where we still live today with our daughter and my parents.
"After a month, I felt strong enough to go back to work. In principle, everything is open in Lviv, including cafes. It's like living in Europe, you don't feel the war as much. It took me 12 hours to get to the meeting in Warsaw by bus, because there were big delays at the Ukrainian border."
Ukrainian cars destroyed by the Russian missiles, as documented by Anastasia during her escape to safety, photo: Anastasia Golobin
"They even recruited more employees"
Zhenya and Dima arrange the screens and try to connect more participants, who will join shortly in a joint video call.
"The war undoubtedly changed the rules of the game at work, but beyond the first two weeks, when the workers who fled Ukraine acclimated to the new places, our customers did not feel any harm," explains Ofir Hazot.
"On the contrary, we even recruited 40 new employees from Ukraine. Despite the many difficulties they are experiencing, our employees, who became digital nomads because of the war, are in a better financial situation compared to employees in other companies.
"Ukrainians are very disciplined workers, loyal, professionals, hardworking, come to work. During the war, they learned to give more. When their backs are against the wall, they work on different days and hours, and this is reflected in improved productivity. Our customers often showed empathy for the situation and understood that even if it is not always possible To meet the deadline, due to the bombings - in the end the gap will be bridged."
What changed in your work after the war?
"One of the direct consequences is that Ukrainian workers have developed an abysmal hatred for Russians. They are no longer willing to work with Russian teams."
Zhenya: "I have friends in Russia, and when I tried to show them the true face of the war - they didn't want to believe. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a nightmare. Some of them are convinced that Putin invaded to save us. Of course we broke off the connection."
Kate: "My father cut off contact with his Russian mother and his brothers, who live in Russia, because they believe in Putin and do not support us. At the beginning of the war, they asked how we felt, and in response we asked if they were not against what Putin was doing to the Ukrainians. They claimed that it was not real - And since then they stopped writing to us."
Chazot says that as part of the humanitarian activity, the employees of the Yael Group organized themselves to collect funds and donations, in order to purchase food and medicine for employees who were in need.
At the end of the year, a cash bonus was also added for the holiday, which the employees donated to the family of the killed employee.
He also uses the meeting in Warsaw to manage an operation for the purchase of generators, which will help the workers who remained in Ukraine deal with the increasingly prolonged power outages.
According to him, a few months ago the company provided its programmers with dedicated devices to bypass power outages, but each such device provides electricity for only two hours.
Now, when the outages sometimes last two days, more expensive generators have to be taken care of for the workers, which poses many logistical and technical challenges.
"This is not a normal situation of working from home, this is work under war. The purchase of generators is a complete procedure: you have to charge some of the payments, you have to sign for usage, it's not a fluke and we're done," Khazot concludes.
Dima and Anna.
"Israel helps with humanitarian equipment and support equipment, not for combat purposes", photo: Hila Timur Ashur
"I also wanted to enlist"
Don't ask a Ukrainian man what he's doing outside his country in early 2023. After all, men of draft age currently have no legal way to leave Ukraine.
This is also the reason that two of the company's employees were recruited - and are now participating in the fighting.
Varoslav Vishenko (29) joins the Zoom meeting from his temporary residence in Spain.
He is a reserve officer in the Ukrainian army, serves in a missile unit, and in the company he manages customer relations.
At the beginning of the war, Varoslav wanted to enlist, but in a long phone conversation with Dima, he was convinced that he would contribute more to the Ukrainian people if he maintained the country's economic strength.
"I'm still thinking about enlisting. Two of my friends were killed in the battles, and there are moments when I hesitate whether to return to serve."
Sasha: "I was also convinced by friends who enlisted that I would be more needed at work. We haven't spoken for several weeks, because I understand that they have a secret operation, but they are sure that Ukraine will win in the end, they just don't know when. As we know, our soldiers are highly motivated in this war." .
Kate: "In the beginning, when I saw all the destruction and deaths, I was upset and wanted to enlist as well. I can, for example, work in espionage. But you never know what will happen tomorrow - with me and my family. I was told that right now there are enough people who are able to fight, and for every The others are tasked with restoring the Ukrainian economy. Rebuilding the house that was destroyed."
Igor Khrokovsky (49), Ophir's right-hand man and authorized signatory at the company, is traveling by plane from Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, which suffered Russian attacks this week - precisely on the eve of the new civil year.
"Igor couldn't get out of Ukraine," Ofir explains.
"He is a Jew, a father of four, who previously lived in Israel for many years. He has been living in Kiev with his family for more than a decade, and now he is considering the possibility of being drafted into the war. He is not allowed to leave the country's borders."
You can probably buy his freedom with money.
"True, but Igor decided not to let it happen. He is very pro-Ukrainian, believes in victory over the Russians. He has a mother, brother and uncle who stayed in the country, and he travels between the cities where they live and gives them money."
Igor listens and comments with a smile: "We have electricity and heating, so everything is fine."
Why did you stay in Kiev and not choose to run away?
Igor: "Ukraine is my country. A few days before the start of the war, I was on a ski vacation in Poland, and I immediately returned to Kiev by car, to my family. When half of the country drove west, thinking to get out of the border, we drove against the traffic, back to Ukraine. It looks like in a movie. People They were in a panic, there was no fuel to buy. Terrible days."
Why didn't you just fly to Israel?
"I considered it with my wife and children. We would coordinate to leave in the 90th minute, if there was no choice. From a security point of view, I now feel like I am in Israel. It is true that here is more exaggerated than in Israel, but it reminds me of the events that took place in Israel a year and a half ago (Operation Shumer The Walls - TA).
"Yesterday there was a wave of bombings in Kiev. Our defense systems manage to repel 86 percent of the Russian attacks, almost like the interceptions in Israel (of the Iron Dome - TA).
Although the electricity and water infrastructure is damaged here, we recover relatively quickly each time.
There are many initiated power outages to avoid overloading the systems."
Understanding the Israeli dilemma
After hours of professional discussions, we go down to the hotel restaurant.
At lunch, those present immediately recognize the accent of the waitress - a refugee from Ukraine herself.
Amazingly, they converse with her in Russian, the language of the one who has become this year's bitter enemy.
"Russian is an official language in Ukraine, and in fact our mother tongue. The parents speak Russian to us," Sasha explains, and immediately qualifies: "But this is only the spoken language, not the national identity."
Kate: "They also sang the lullabies to us in Russian as little children."
No matter how you spin it, language is culture.
Dima: "I don't agree. We are just a territory where Russian is spoken. If we speak the language, it doesn't mean we support Russia."
Zhenya: "TV, for example, we watch in Ukrainian."
Do you believe that following the war, in the next generation this will change?
Everyone decisively: "Obviously!"
Dima: "Even though I understand Ukrainian, it's hard for me to speak it, but I will learn. In recent years, more and more people are starting to speak Ukrainian, because of the aversion to Russia."
קייט: "המשפחה שלי דיברה בבית רוסית. אני התחלתי לדבר אוקראינית בגיל 20, ואני זוכרת שאנשים הסתכלו עלי מוזר, כאילו אני לא בסדר. עכשיו המשפחה שלי התחילה לדבר אוקראינית, וזה קל יותר. היום אני כותבת הודעות רק באוקראינית".
כולם מאוחדים בתמיכה בנשיא האוקראיני וולודימיר זלנסקי, מבינים את המורכבות שעימה מתמודדת ישראל בשאלה איך לסייע לאוקראינה, ומכירים בתמיכה ההומניטרית שמגיעה מכאן.
דימה: "במציאות, ישראל עוזרת בציוד הומניטרי ובציוד תומך, שלא לצורכי לחימה. האנשים באוקראינה יודעים את זה, והם אסירי תודה על מה שניתן. האוקראינים מבינים את היחסים הפוליטיים מורכבים שיש בין רוסיה לישראל. יש כאלה שלוקחים את זה בצורה שלילית, אבל בגלל יחסי העבר הטובים היחס כלפי ישראל באוקראינה חיובי מאוד. בסך הכל, ישראל נאמנה מאוד לאוקראינים".
סשה: "יש לכם מצב קשה עם איראן, ואני די בטוח שאתם שומרים על קשר עם רוסיה בנושא הזה. אני לא מתכוון להגיד שישראל תומכת ברוסיה, אבל ברור לי שיש בעיה לישראל לתמוך בנו, כי יש לכם מספיק בעיות משלכם. אני בכל זאת מקווה שהממשלה שלכם תמצא דרך לאבטח את השמיים שלנו באמצעות מערכות הגנה".
הרבה ניצולי שואה מאשימים את האוקראינים ביחס אכזרי ליהודים, בשירות הנאצים, במלחמת העולם השנייה.
סשה: "אני לא שמעתי על זה. את בטוחה שזה לא חלק מהתעמולה הרוסית נגדנו? אני אלמד על זה באינטרנט. לצערי, היו אירועים נוראיים בהיסטוריה שלנו".
קייט בעבודה מרחוק בחברה, במהלך נדודיה, צילום: מהאלבום הפרטי
"המלחמה הפרידה זוגות"
שלוש וחצי אחר הצהריים. כבר חושך בוורשה. בכיכר הקטנה שמול המלון מפזרת קשישה פולנייה במעיל עבה לחם לציפורים. מכאן הולכים לדירתו השכורה של דימה בעיר, לערב חברתי שארגן לנוכחים, כשהוא מקווה לשקם על הדרך גם את חיי החברה והאהבה שלו, שנמצאים, לדבריו, "גם הם במצור".
"המלחמה גרמה לפירוד בין הרבה זוגות באוקראינה", הוא מסביר. "הנשים עזבו את המדינה, בעוד הגברים נשארו מאחור ואיבדו ברובם את מקומות עבודתם. גברים אחרים הלכו לצבא. אני עצמי לא מצליח למצוא אהבה, ואני מתכוון להכיר נשים דרך הטינדר".
אתה מתכוון למקומיות פולניות?
"לא, רק אוקראיניות. עם פולניות יש לי קושי בשפה. נפגשתי החודש עם כמה פליטות אוקראיניות, אבל עדיין לא מצאתי את האחת. אני מחפש מישהי מעניינת ואקטיבית, אחת שאוכל להעריץ אותה".
Sasha, on the other hand, owes his private love precisely to war.
When the fighting broke out, when many employees of the company fled to Georgia, he met one of them there, an employee named Margarita, who came with her two children.
He helped her find an apartment in the city where he lived.
"And then it just happened," he beams as he talks about love in the shadow of war.
"It turns out that not everything was bad in the situation we found ourselves in last year."
timorhila@gmail.com
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