Stories From the Streets: Diary From the Ukrainian Border

My name is Dvir. I live in Israel, in the center of the country, and am a father to 2 children aged 10. My life is very busy, and I maneuver between its chores while making time to volunteer at United Hatzalah. In Israel as elsewhere, war in Europe has become the talk of the day, but at first it had little impact on my day-to-day life.

United Hatzalah delegation to Ukraine was the title of the message I received on my cell phone a few weeks ago. I hurried to sign up. Obviously, we need to be there. We cannot just sit idly by while others need help. It took a few days for the organization to have a space for me, as volunteers already in Moldova were cycling out for newer volunteers coming from Israel to assist at the border.

At the airport I met other volunteers who would be joining my contingent, and together we loaded medical equipment and humanitarian aid supplies onto the plane. We were on our way to Moldova, which borders Ukraine to the west. It is a poor country without much infrastructure to help refugees and without many other organizations on the ground assisting. As we set off from Israel, I looked at my fellow volunteers and thought, May we be privileged to do good and put smiles on the faces of as many people as possible who fled the inferno.

Vitaly’s Story

My name is Vitaly. Just a few days ago I celebrated my 10th birthday. In recent days my mom and dad were frequently whispering in the kitchen, but when they came back they’d pretend everything was fine. Dad always walked out with a smile, and we’d sit down to eat dinner. This continued until one day my classmates told me the Russian army had invaded a nearby town. A war had started.

I did not understand what a war was. My mother said we couldn’t go out to play because it was too dangerous. We stopped going to school and began to hear ambulance sirens nonstop from the main street.

Then one morning I woke up in a panic. Our whole building was shaking. I heard screams from my friend Sasha’s house opposite ours. We were all scared. The war had begun to approach our neighborhood—we were bombarded with shelling and trembled with fear.

I remember Dad’s hug. He hugged and hugged and then hugged me again with all his might. He said men weren’t allowed to leave the country and Mom would take care of me until it was over. I saw Dad and Mom wiping tears from their eyes. Mom quickly packed me a bag with some clothes, and we fled.

We drove nonstop on broken roads and unofficial paths and switched cars once. Night came, and we continued our journey. The whole time I was really cold. I remember my mom taking off her sweater and covering me with it. I missed Dad a little.

A day passed, and another day, and we were still traveling. Every time I got hungry, my mom would buy me some food, and we’d continue on. Finally we reached the border.

Real Heroes

Dvir here.

One of the things that caught my attention as I landed in Moldova and dove immediately into working with the refugees was the children. I met Ukrainian children and their mothers everywhere I went—at the synagogue that was retrofitted to become our logistics and command headquarters, at the various refugee camps I visited with my fellow volunteers, and at the border crossings. These children left their toys, their schools, and their friends in bombed-out Ukraine, and now they help their parents here in Moldova, a new country where they don’t know anyone. That they could still find joy even in their current situation brought hope to their distraught mothers and grandparents. I saw these children as real heroes. Many of these children were the same age as Chaim and Itzik, my children, so it was very special for me to be able to help them and their parents.

I’m currently working on helping refugees who want to come to Israel process their paperwork and get signed up for the upcoming rescue flights that United Hatzalah is arranging.

In Moldova

Hi, this is Vitaly again.

I just want to tell you Mom and I crossed the border into Moldova and I’m not cold anymore. We have been sleeping at night with many more Ukrainians who fled the war too. Right now, after lunch, I think I will go out looking for friends to play with while Mom rests.

From Chisinau

Hi—we’re together! Dvir and Vitaly, now in Chisinau.

We wanted to update you and tell you that it’s really fun here. There is plenty of candy, and we play together with a few other friends we met. Volunteers are helping Mom so we can board the upcoming flight to Israel.

Hi, it’s Dvir again. I wanted to share this photo of me and my new friends. In a moment we will finish arranging what is needed, and they will be on a rescue flight to Israel tomorrow. In the short time I’ve been here, just a few days, I’ve made such a strong connection with Vitaly and a few other children. I won’t soon forget this experience and am thankful to have been a part of it. Our team helped Vitaly and his mother cross the border, we helped them again in the refugee center, and I helped them arrange the details of their flight so they can be on their way and begin their new lives. Before we said our good-byes and Vitaly headed for the airport, we hugged.

Dvir Adani is one of more than 150 emergency medical service personnel from United Hatzalah of Israel who have volunteered to assist Ukrainian refugees in Moldova. As part of Operation Orange Wings, the group of EMS volunteers was the first international aid team on the ground in Moldova and has to date assisted tens of thousands of refugees at the border crossings, in the capital of Chisinau, and at refugee centers in the country. The organization has also flown more than 2000 Ukrainian refugees to Israel while delivering medical equipment, medication, and supplies to refugees in Ukraine and surrounding countries.