December Update 2

The Fear of a Big War

Living in fear of a full-scale war with one of the best-armed countries in the world, Russia, is truly a nightmare. The population of Ukraine constantly lives in this fear.

The Minsk Protocol was signed by Ukraine after Ukrainian soldiers got trapped in the fatal “Ilovaysk kettle” where they were encircled by Russian forces. But at that moment, Ukrainians had to fight off only a limited pool of Russian troops, not the entire army.
We got to know about the terrible fate of the trapped Ukrainian soldiers from volunteer groups that used to withdraw Jewish families from the battle area after the fighting ceased in order for them to make Aliyah.

The volunteers told us at that time that after the fierce battle dead bodies of Ukrainian soldiers lined roads, severed parts of bodies were hanging off fences, power lines, tree branches. But that was only a very little blitzkrieg undertaken by Russian armies. They entered the territory of Ukraine for only a few days, turned Ukrainian armed forces into cannon fodder and retreated back to Russia very quickly. What a nightmare it was, only eyewitnesses know.

But the most horrible thing about this all is that Ukrainian military generals are now talking from TV screens and saying that during these 7 years of war with Russia, Ukraine has a new generation of soldiers grown up. “They were 12 or 13 back in 2014, and now they are doing military service, they are trained and ready to fight off Russian aggression!” What a horrible and cynical thing to say! It means that new cannon fodder has grown up and military officials have no pity for the young boys. Instead of searching for ways to resolve the conflict in a peaceful way, Ukrainian officials are making mothers of young boys listen to these terrible things.

On the verge of New Year, Ukrainian government reached a new level of absurd. They ordered all women, including pregnant, nursing mothers, single mothers, and mothers with many children to get registered at the military department within 2022. This means that in case of possible war they may be summoned to military service. As the next step, they also declared that it will be forbidden to leave the country and place of permanent residence to those liable for military services. This looks like a real hysteria of the government and a real absurd.

This is why the flow of people from Ukraine, especially young people, is growing day after day. In 2021 alone about 700.000 people left Ukraine. The number of people who have left Ukraine during the 30 years of our independence is reaching 10 million now. Ukraine has the 8th rank among the countries that provide the amplest migration flow. This list starts with such countries as Iraq, Syria, Libya.
Our olim are seeking protection of their historical motherland from the military hysteria and unbalanced actions of Ukrainian government in the face of possible war.

This is why we are immensely grateful to all those donors who have contributed. Many thanks to you for supporting our poor olim who are escaping to the Promised Land from the terrible threat of war.