Shifra Rybechenko
Shifra, 24, is a psychologist who lived in Kyiv. She had already booked plane tickets to Israel to make Aliyah on February 27 when her country was invaded by Russia. Shifra’s brother got them all seats on a bus to Lviv but chose to stay behind with his wife and her parents and enlist in the Ukraine combat support force. Shifra’s dad also chose to stay behind and volunteer for the military, so only Shifra and her mother and sister made their way to Lviv. After arriving in Lviv, they tried to board a train west but found out there was no train, so they hired a driver. When the driver got onto the main road and saw the traffic, he estimated the journey would last four days and was not willing to drive the women, so they had to get out of the car.
“The distance to our destination was 26 kilometers, and we had no choice but to start walking. In the meantime, my sister-in-law, her mother and grandmother also joined us. After six miles, my sister-in-law’s grandmother, my mother and my little sister were able to get a ride from a vehicle that offered assistance and the rest of us continued on foot for the next 20 kilometers. It took 4 hours, and we all reconvened at the Poland border. We met up with The Jewish Agency in Warsaw and we will immigrate to Israel in the coming days. The hardest part now is worrying about the families still in Ukraine, but the Ukrainians are a strong people and I believe the war will be over soon.”
