Ukrainian students who fled to Israel feel safer there, even during war

• Published date: 07 April 2024
• Author: SHARON GELBACH
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The trio are part of a group of students who fled the war in Ukraine in March 2022 and came to Israel to study at the village, owned by the World ORT educational network, in what they hoped would be more peaceful surroundings

After leaving behind their war-torn home country they immediately set about acclimating to a completely different culture, learning Hebrew and navigating their high-school studies.

Monique Zahavi, International Relations Coordinator at World ORT Kadima Mada, the network's operational arm in Israel, describes the students as "incredibly resilient and inspirational".

She says their challenges have not stopped them from striving to reach their potential. "They contribute to school life at every opportunity. The depth of thought and engagement that they contribute to our young ambassadors sessions is heartwarming."

Sviatoslav, 17, described the shock of that fateful morning in October. "I was in Ashkelon with friends and was woken up at 6am by the rocket fire. There were reports that terrorists had infiltrated Israel. I saw pictures of Sderot. Ashkelon is extremely close to Sderot. We closed all the windows and doors and stayed in the safe room for two hours. Yeah, that was scary."

Due to its proximity to the Gaza border, Kfar Silver students were among the first to be evacuated, under the watchful eyes of Amos Gofer, the village's CEO, and other staff.

Sviatoslav moved into his grandmother's house in Holon, while Michael, Maria and other dorm students were taken to Hadassah Neurim, a verdant youth campus with a view of the sea, just north of Netanya. Some six weeks later, they returned to Kfar Silver, amid frequent rocket fire that forced them to sleep on mattresses in the safety of the bomb shelter.

In fluent English, the three share what it was like to flee the Russian onslaught on Ukraine. Sviatoslav asserts that the booms of the Iron Dome missile interceptions do not faze him after what he experienced in his hometown of Kharkiv. "I saw Russian soldiers invading my city, I saw dead people lying in the street. At least five times I thought, 'I'm going to die right now' because there was constant shelling right next to us and we didn't have any bomb shelter."

In the early days of that conflict, the teenager and his parents suffered severe hunger, unable to leave the house due to a curfew, and then forced to wait in line with thousands of other terrified civilians to buy bread.

Michael, 18, a native of Kyiv, is also no stranger to...