More than 100 residents of a care home in Kyiv, many of whom are Holocaust survivors, were evacuated with the help of a UK-based charity as the situation in Kyiv worsens. 

Orach Chaim Foundation helped facilitate the evacuation of more than 100 residents of an elderly home in Kyiv in collaboration with the American Friends of Kyiv.

The residents of the home, many of whom were Holocaust survivors, were evacuated to a refugee camp in the Carpathian mountains close to the Hungarian border. 

WhatsApp Image 2022-03-09 at 2.47.01 PM

The residents of the care home in Kyiv (Credit: Orach Chaim Foundation)

Orach Chaim Foundation spokesman Nathan Feldman said: "Initially, we were going to keep them in the Jewish assisted living home in Kyiv where there is a basement for when the sirens go off. However, yesterday we decided to move them all."

Mr Feldman said many of those evacuated were holocaust survivors who lost family at Babyn Yar.

He is helping to coordinate fundraising efforts for the charity, together with American Friends of Kyiv, which is supporting partner organisations in Ukraine to evacuate and support members of the Jewish community. 

According to Mr Feldman the group of elderly residents and survivors were "being looked after as best we can with three hot meals a day." 

He said what was a $500 (£380) trip before the war was costing $28,000 (£21,250) to hire a bus of 50-60 seats with military escort and security.

"We want peace"

Ukrainian Holocaust survivors sheltering in a basement in Kyiv record a message to Vladimir Putin pic.twitter.com/bkm5Xpi39e

— The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) March 3, 2022

In a video released by the charity, Romanova Valentyna Yosypivna explained she was born in Ukraine in 1941 and lived through the war. "My relatives died in Babyn Yar," she said. 
"Kyiv is under bomb attacks and shelling again."

In a direct address to Putin she said: "Take away your army. Get out from Ukraine."

In the first week of the conflict, the groups said they had evacuated over 1000 men, women and children from Kyiv and other cities and towns in the east and centre of Ukraine. 

To find out more: https://www.charidy.com/HelpKyiv/UK