Ukrainians in Gaza grieve for their country

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Since the outbreak of the Russian war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, Svetlana al-Farra, a Ukrainian doctor who lives in Khan Yunis (south of the Gaza Strip) spends all her time feeling tense. Her mother, who is in her 70s, and her sister live in Kharkiv, which, like other Ukrainian cities, is being assaulted by Russian warplanes.

The war was a great shock to Svetlana, who is the daughter of a Russian mother and Ukrainian father, and she is now terrified of power cuts and internet outages where her family lives. “This is Ukraine’s first war,” she told Al-Monitor. “Everybody is afraid. I wrote to them yesterday to come to Gaza.”

Her nervousness has been palpable during the wars she has witnessed in Gaza, where she has resided since 2000. She can hardly sleep for two hours a day, and her eyes are tired from reading the news on the internet. “I fear for everyone. My sister told me that she took my mother to stay at one of the neighbors’ houses, while the rest of my acquaintances are taking refuge in the metro station.”

Although Svetlana feels powerless at the moment, she has stayed active on social media to inform others of the developments in Ukraine and refute Russian excuses. She said, “I want everyone to know that it is a war targeting civilians in Ukraine. My children are sharing everything that shows solidarity with our people in Ukraine.”

Natalia al-Hassoumi, a 40-year-old Ukrainian, tried to explain to her three sons what is happening in the Ukrainian city of Kherson, which the Russian army stormed into. But words failed her.

Her husband, Imad, said that she was “very worried about her brother and aunts. Since the war broke out, she has been communicating with them all the time, and the scenes of the war there terrify her.”

Imad said, “I try to reassure her and tell her that the Ukrainian resistance will succeed. But, then her brother tells her that he woke up last night to the sound of tanks surrounding his place, and I feel like I have lost her again.”

Ashraf al-Nimr, the official in charge of the Ukrainian community in the Gaza Strip, is communicating with the Ukrainian consulate in Ramallah. He said that the Ukrainian community is one of the largest in the Gaza Strip, with more than 800 people. “Most of the residents are doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and engineers,” he told Al-Monitor. “This community is deeply attached to its country, and it is therefore following up on all the developments. But all we can do is pray for peace.”

Nimr, a Palestinian married to a Ukrainian national, Olina Victor al-Nimr, has four children. He told Al-Monitor that they have been living in a state of panic ever since the first moments of the war, especially since their son Ahmed resides in Mariupol, which is getting pounded by Russian planes.

Ludmila al-Farra, a Ukrainian doctor, told Al-Monitor that she has Russian friends in Gaza City, as living in exile brought them together. There are strong bonds between Russian and Ukrainian citizens in Gaza and in her country as well. She said, “We had been living peacefully and coexisting together. I don’t know how things got to this point of war.”

Ludmila came to Gaza in 2000, and she has three children. Although she managed to bring her mother to Gaza a few months ago, she and her mother are in a constant state of anxiety. She said, “We have relatives everywhere in Ukraine, and I have a house in Sumy. I was told that the clashes were very close to it last night.”