Sobbing Ukrainian reveals she escaped Russia's invasion only for Iranian missile to destroy her new home in Israel

New York Post

2 days ago

A Ukrainian make-up artist who escaped Russia's invasion sobbed Wednesday as she revealed her new home in Israel had been wiped out by an Iranian missile.
Tetiana Kurakova, 40, fled to the Jewish state from Kyiv in 2022 — and claimed that five other Ukrainian war refugees were among the nine killed Sunday as Iranian missiles rained down on her new home in Bat Yam, a city south of Tel Aviv.
'It felt like a nightmare. I can't even describe how big it was,' she said, breaking down in tears. 'I couldn't understand how I survived.'
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3 Tetiana Kurakova, 40, fled to the Jewish state from Kyiv in 2022.
ABIR SULTAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Kurakova said she'd spent the last few years rebuilding her life since fleeing Ukraine — only for it to be obliterated once again.
'I feel terrified inside and outside. I feel terrified by the hopelessness,' she said.
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'It's very painful. Each time, you don't know if you'll survive or not. Or whether you'll be in a situation where you won't even be found. Every time there is stress, it is painful. That was the reason I left Ukraine. I thought it wouldn't start here. I didn't understand that it was possible here.'
3 'I feel terrified inside and outside. I feel terrified by the hopelessness,' she said.
AP
The Iranian strike tore through the building next to hers, killing nine people and injuring dozens more.
Kurakova claimed five of the slain victims were other Ukrainians who had recently come to Israel to escape Russia's war.
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Hundreds of homes, including Kurakova's, were also destroyed in the attack.
3 The Iranian strike tore through the building next to hers, killing nine people and injuring dozens more.
AP
Kurakova said she was able to salvage a few belongings but wasn't sure if she'd ever be able to return.
'I understood there was a strike, but at that time I didn't even pay attention to the house that was hit, because I very quickly went up to the second floor where I lived, to my apartment,' she recalled.
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'I started pulling my suitcases very quickly, packing my things. At least some things, because I understood that maybe a strike was coming — and I needed to get ready fast.
'I thought I needed to quickly grab my documents, papers, some important things and run.'
With Post wires