“We can finally let out a sigh of relief.”
By Pesach Benson, United with Israel
A Ukrainian woman who was shown on TV begging for help amidst a scene of rubble in Mariupol is now reunited with her daughter in Israel, who saw the report.
Tatiana Goldin lost contact with her mother, Ludmila, when she was forced to flee Mariupol, a besieged port city in eastern Ukraine.
Goldin, a psychological services worker for the Ashdod municipality, did not know if her mother was alive until she saw her on TV in March.
Ludmila was living alone in Mariupol, and prior to Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, Tatiana unsuccessfully tried to convince her mother to evacuate to Israel.
Ashdod Mayor Yehiel Lasri and various organizations took action to help bring Ludmila to Israel.
The efforts paid off as Ludmila landed in Israel on Tuesday.
“We can finally let out a sigh of relief, and let out all the stress that lasted several months,” Tatiana told Channel 12 news.
Russia captured Mariupol when the remaining Ukrainian forces there surrendered on May 20.
When the war broke out, the city had a population of 434,000. An estimated 22,000 residents have been killed in Russian shelling that has reduced much of the city to rubble.
Thousands of Ukrainians in areas captured by the Russians, including Mariupol, have been forcibly deported to Russia.
Russian officials said in April that 420,000 people were “voluntarily evacuated” from dangerous areas of eastern Ukraine.