As they step down onto the tarmac at Ben Gurion airport, their exhaustion is all too plain to see – but these mothers and their children are indescribably relieved to be in Israel, away from the horror of war.

They are among about a hundred Ukrainians who have been flown to the safety of Tel Aviv by United Hatzalah, the volunteer emergency medical service helping Jewish communities around the world.

The JC had been with the group of refugees just hours earlier in Romania, as they had been preparing to complete the final leg of their journey.

In the dead of night, in the airport lounge in Iasi, toddler Dennis had run around with a red, toy bus. 

A Jewish refugee from the war, he was clutching one of the very few items he could grab before fleeing from his home in Odessa with his mother Julia last Shabbat.

Julia had been unable to speak without crying for her husband, who had to stay behind and fight against the Russian forces. 

Her elderly grandparents were too frail to travel, and Julia’s own parents insisted that they had to stay behind in order to look after them.

She told the JC: “I’m heartbroken. The only person I know in Israel is my mother-in-law. 

“Though I am so grateful for coming, I just really miss my family.“

Her relatives insisted that Julia should take little Dennis to the safety of Israel as the Russian military continued to pound civilian targets in Ukraine. 

She found the United Hatzalah team after travelling at all hours on buses for four days with her son. Like all the other refugees waiting to board the 2.30am flight to Tel Aviv, she had come via neighbouring Moldova. 

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Alona with son Levi and mother Valentina at the airport in Romania

Many didn’t know whether they would even have a home to go back to in Ukraine one day, or whether their family would still be alive. Some of the mothers were so drained from the last few weeks that they could not even speak, but among the children, there were those who smiled in delight as the rescue team offered them chocolates and the Israeli peanut snack, Bamba. 

One mother, Alona, talking about her experience of the war, said in Hebrew: “It’s like a bad film.” 

With her son Levi, aged six, and her mother Valentina, she had managed to escape Irpin, a town near Kyiv that has suffered a cruelly destructive bombardment in recent days.

Alona said: “Our whole town was practically flattened, from the butchers to the greengrocer. I’ve no idea what’s happened to my home.

“I spent eight days in a ‘brace position’ on the floor with my son and elderly mum at the local train station, as bombs were raining down on us from Russian aircraft.

“The explosions were deafening and falling all around us and we didn’t know if they would hit us directly.  

“I have no idea the impact this has had on my son. He told me that his heart hurt him and kept asking when we could leave.”

Alona’s husband had found out about United Hatzalah via his synagogue. He had arranged for her to meet the team in Moldova and from there to Romania.

She said: “We have been travelling for four days now in minus-two weather. It’s unimaginable that Ukraine is at war. For now I’m coming to Israel for safety, but my heart breaks for those that are left behind.”

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Avi Marcus with a United Hatzalah volunteer colleague

Businessman Sergio Geller was in Kyiv but is returning to Israel to join his wife. He said: “The last few weeks were terrible. The sirens awful but we are one people in the Ukraine, I’ve never seen anything like it. Zelensky is our hero.”

By Tuesday, United Hatzalah had successfully organised three rescue flights bringing back 400 refugees. They were hoping that a further three flights would bring about 500 people by the weekend, meaning more than 900 refugees would have been brought back by Hatzalah alone.

Coming across the Moldovan border, the refugees had been greeted by United Hatzalah’s team, who provided humanitarian aid and medical care, regardless of race or religion. 

Those who were eligible to come to Israel were granted permission to board one of the rescue flights. On the specially chartered Arkia flight, there were medics and trauma specialists.

One of the key organisers, Raphael Poch, was on the flight with the JC. 

Explaining how the whole team had put everything aside in their lives to get on with the rescue, he said: “There is a huge pride for me. Seeing the faces of the family members who are at Ben Gurion to greet them is absolutely incredible. Exploding pride is a good way to say it.

“When they arrive, some will receive help from agencies or family members. If they don’t have a place to go, we try to help them via the Jewish Agency, Ministry of Absorption and the Foreign Ministry.

“One of the most shocking stories was a man from Kyiv who walked for over 15 hours to get across the border.

“He wasn’t allowed to cross because he is male and had been told to stay behind to fight. He had walked so far and came to us with cardiac and respiratory issues.”

Among those who provided care on the ground in Romania was British-born paramedic Avi Marcus. 

He told the JC: “The worst thing that I’ve experienced is seeing how people emptied out of their homes. 

“It’s a feeling I can’t even begin to understand. How must it feel to leave your home and all your things and not know if you’re coming back?

“So many are scared, unaware of their future, and behave in different ways."

For more information or to make a donation go to israelrescue.org.