For the first time in a long time, Yeva Korotkykh is feeling safe.
The 17-year-old spent her first night in North Bay with family members after making her way to Canada from Israel.
Born in the Ukraine, Korotkykh has been living in Israel for nearly two years, as a student.
Her first night in Canada was in sharp contrast to life in Israel where the Israel-Hamas war continues to intensify.
“I came yesterday at night, and I feel safe here. Now I just relax and don’t want to think about things, but all the time I check the news about Israel,” said the teen.
“Israel is so small a country and when one city had attacks, we heard it. The walls can shake. For me, I was really nervous. It was stressful.”
Over the weekend the young woman made her way out of Tel Aviv but bombing near the airport only added to her anxiety.
“Leaving Israel was not hard physically, but I am afraid because there is a lot of terrorism, and I didn’t even know how I could go to the airport and what was happening at the airport. When I was in the airport the sirens started and I heard bombs. I was so nervous because I didn’t know how I could fly after that. And all the trip when I fly, I thought ‘Please God save me, I want to go to another country and to be safe,’” shared Korotkykh.
The teen has already experienced three wars in her short life.
“I was born in the Ukraine and when I was eight (years old), the first of my wars started in 2014 and on my birthday we were leaving for another city in Ukraine with my whole family because of war. We went to my Grandma’s city, and my parents still live there,” explained Korotkykh .
“Then on the 24th of February 2022, the second war started. It is hard.”
Her father sent her to live with her sister in Israel. She was enrolled in a program for Jewish people who wanted to study in Israel.
“All of my family is Jewish and they said that I need to have a Jewish education and they sent me to Israel to study there. I’m still studying, but now I study online.”
Her parents also initially sent her to Israel because of the emotional toll the war in Ukraine has taken on her.
“They understand I cannot be there because I have a lot of problems after the first war. When I hear loud sounds, I have stress. I have panic attacks and they understand I need to go somewhere, and they decide to send me to Israel because it is the country of our culture. And they thought it would be safer.”
Her family could not have foreseen the depth of what was to happen between Israel and Hamas.
The decision was then made to get the young woman out of Israel and send her somewhere else where she would be safe.
It made sense that she would stay with family already living in Canada.
Korotkykh describes life in Israel for herself and her friends.
“It is so hard. When the war first started a lot of people started to pile up a lot of food and shops didn’t have enough. And I have a lot of friends from Argentina and other places and they went back to their homes and they want to come back to Israel,” explained Korotkykh.
“I really want to come back because I feel like it is my country, it is my home and I have friends there and I hope the war in Israel finishes soon,” said the young woman.
Korotkykh looks forward to staying in Canada for however long she is able.
“I can say that the first time after the war in Israel that I slept well and I don’t wake up when I hear something, with my heart pounding. So, I think here I can calm down and I’m safe. Right now, it is so dangerous to come back.”
