JUNE 2 • 2022 | 13
ON THE COVER
IANA SYROTNIKOVA SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
TRANSLATED BY ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
THE WAR BEGINS
The word “war” entered my life on Feb.
24, 2022. At 4:50 in the morning, we were
awakened by a sound that I had never heard
before in my life: the sound of an exploding
shell, followed by the sound of anti-aircraft
defense. Two minutes later, my phone rang.
My mother was calling me from the other
side of the city, shouting into the phone:
“Iana! The war has begun!”
From that moment, the city of Kharkiv
didn’t sleep.
As of Feb. 24, we became hostages in our
own home. My husband, Igor, recorded a
video on his phone. Explosions and rockets
were visible from our balcony. The sounds
of war grew as the city was increasingly
bombed. We filled a suitcase with docu-
ments, medicines and valuables, which we
kept at the entrance to our apartment. We
also filled a small bag with our possessions
to keep in our car, in case we had to leave.
It seemed to us that we had thought of a
lot, planned accordingly, and that this would
help us survive. We equipped our bathroom
as a place of refuge, filling it with candles,
matches, water, food, blankets and pillows.
Every time air raid sirens began, we grabbed
our rescue cat, Lady, and ran to the bath-
room, leaving only when the sounds subsid-
ed. In the evening, we kept the lights off to
comply with total blackout orders.
Being on the streets was dangerous; a
missile could strike anywhere. Yet, we were
running out of food and water, so Igor left to
search for food. He stood in huge lines and
sometimes came home with nothing. There
was a food shortage. In Ukraine, March
1 would typically signal the beginning of
spring; however, spring never came. Instead,
at 5 a.m., a shell hit the property of our
apartment building. A deafening blast threw
us on the bed, knocked out balconies and
“ON FEB. 24, MY MOTHER WAS CALLING ME FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF
THE CITY, SHOUTING INTO THE PHONE: ‘IANA! THE WAR HAS BEGUN.’”
— IANA SYROTNIKOVA
continued on page 14
Apartment
building and car
after March 1
bombing
Ruined car after March 1