Like all families in Be’er Sheva, Vlada and her husband Alexander received warnings about incoming rocket fire from Iran on March 3. They grabbed their five- and three-year-old daughters and rushed to the bomb shelter. Minutes later, a loud explosion sounded outside, and the shelter doors flew off their hinges. The room filled with screams, while Vlada’s children remained silent. It was only after they left the shelter—when the girls saw what the attack had done to their home—that they began to cry. For Vlada and Alexander, however, this was something they had experienced before in Ukraine, prior to making aliyah.
In February 2022, Vlada was home alone in Odesa with her eldest daughter, Mila, who was an infant at the time. Their home was struck by a missile as the war in Ukraine began, in an attack that killed 22 people. Alexander was away, working in Poland at the time. So Vlada packed two bags—one for herself and one for Mila—and boarded an evacuation train to Poland to reunite with her husband. She recalls how the train stood still for an entire day without power or air conditioning. People gasped for air in the cramped cars, and Mila cried throughout the long journey.
Vlada and Alexander had planned to move to Israel when Mila turned three, but the war accelerated their plans. They settled in Be’er Sheva, and a year later welcomed another daughter, Michelle. Vlada’s parents moved in next door, and the family began working and saving for a new children’s room and furniture. But everything changed on March 3.
“The entire apartment was covered in broken furniture and shattered glass,” Vlada says. “There were even shards embedded in the walls. My parents’ apartment also had broken windows and doors, and only one room remained untouched. That is where we all went, because we needed to feed the children and put them to bed. However, we had no idea what to do next. Both our apartment and my parents’ apartment had their water and gas shut off immediately after the rocket hit, and the sewage system was not working. We were in a panic.”
The Leonardo Hotel in Jerusalem was overwhelmed with displaced families, and it took time before Vlada and her family were given a room with even a single bed. Still, they were so exhausted that it was more than enough. Vlada recalls filling out forms for assistance from various organizations, but The Fellowship was the only one that helped them—without even being asked. This support included funds for groceries and other essentials while they were displaced from their home.
“I want to say thank you many times over to The Fellowship for your absolutely timely help. When your life is falling apart, when the life you built is collapsing, The Fellowship’s help was that island of hope we all need in days of war,” Vlada says. “Thank you to the donors, thank you to the staff, and thank you to The Fellowship volunteers.”
