Tanya’s Story – Aliyah and Absorption

Tanya’s Journey: Israel, a Safe Haven Amidst the Ukraine War

Tanya and her family were forced to flee Ukraine when the war broke out.
The UIA-supported Naale program helped Tanya’s daughter make Aliyah.
The rest of the family made Aliyah through First Home in the Homeland.
Thanks to UIA, Tanya and her family have rebuilt their lives filled with hope in Israel.

Tanya’s world was shattered on the morning of 24 February 2022. Instead of alarm clocks, Tanya and her family woke to explosions. From their windows in Kharkiv, they watched in horror as tanks gathered on the ring road. Their peaceful life had vanished overnight.  Before the war, they had built the life they had dreamed of. Tanya, had climbed the ranks from manager to branch director in banking, while her husband Sergey ran a transportation company. Their children – Daria, Anna and Oleg thrived at school and activities. They had roots, purpose and community. 

Leaving Their Life Behind

Then came the air bomb that struck near their home. With trembling hands, they packed what little they could carry and fled. The exodus was chaotic – roads clogged with desperate families, four grueling days to reach the Hungarian border, nights spent in makeshift shelters alongside fellow refugees.  In Budapest, strangers became saviors. A Hungarian family opened their grandmother’s home to Tanya and her family for a year. By chance, they bumped into neighbours from Kharkiv who connected them to a Ukrainian educational centre where Tanya discovered her calling as a teacher. While she taught mathematics to displaced Ukrainian children, Sergey worked as a driver but struggled without knowing Hungarian.  Their children faced their own battles. Bullied in Hungarian schools, they retreated to online Ukrainian education. Tanya and family clung to each other, always hoping to return home. But as months passed, Ukraine’s situation deteriorated.   

Beginning the Aliyah Process

The turning point came when their eldest child, Daria, applied to an Israeli high school through the Naale program. Despite the challenges of gathering documents from a war-torn city, she passed her exams and was accepted to ‘Mevoot Iron school’. Even after October 7, they took comfort in knowing her school was in a safer central region. 

Tanya’s family’s decision to follow Daria to Israel was both impulsive and deliberate. They submitted documents and received approval in just 15 days, yet it followed countless family discussions. They had to accept a painful truth: they couldn’t return to Ukraine anytime soon. Their children needed stability, community and a safe future.

First Home in the Homeland: Making Israel Home

On 15 August 2024, Tanya and her family made Aliyah to Israel through the First Home in the Homeland program, settling in Kibbutz Mashabei Sadeh in the Ramat Negev region. After completing Ulpan in February, they decided to stay longer. For the first time in years, they felt truly safe.  Their transformation is obvious to everyone. The distrustful, wounded family that first arrived has become hopeful again. Tanya assists at the kindergarten, Sergey works at a factory and their children are finally rebuilding their lives.  They carry Ukraine in their hearts, but Israel has become the home they desperately needed.   

Read more about the UIA supported Aliyah and Absorption program: