From a messianic church member from Mariupol:
We were not shelled or shot at, but simply left on 24 February after learning that the siege of Mariupol had begun and that this city was a red line for us.
The Lord clearly indicated to us that we should go to Moldova and organise bases and transport for evacuation outside Moldova.
In the first four days, the Jewish organisations were not ready to accept Jewish refugees. I would like to pay respect to them in that the consulates began to take concrete measures as early as Monday 28 February.
In those first four days, our Jewish families, even those who had previously been turned away, joined together and began to leave.
As they were always asking where, when and how, we considered different ways of crossing the border, because already on the evening of 24 February, after we had crossed the border, the law on the mobilisation of men between 18 and 60 came into force. Crossing the border is difficult, but we found a way out for the men and they crossed the border with their children, and after a while their wives also crossed the border.
However, this option was only for three days, and during this time many members of our communities were able to cross the border. Others stayed to protect their property from looters and to accompany old people who did not want to leave their homes.
The most interesting moment was that those who had been denied aliyah in the past managed to do so this time.
We tried to figure out how to get to Eretz Yisrael and took the risk of sending people to Poland for another meeting with the consul. And yes, it worked!!! Then we found out that our parishioner who had stayed in Odessa knew the consul in the neighbouring country, and he spoke to her, and another miracle happened: the family was allowed to leave, and today they will end up in the Promised Land. So far, out of 9 families, and that is 23 people, only two have been stopped. Let us pray that they too will be able to come to Israel.
