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