While the buses carrying Jewish and Israeli refugees continue to depart Lviv for Ukraine's border with Poland, the frequency of those trips and the number of passengers are dwindling by the day.
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The bus that left on Wednesday was half empty, carrying no more than 25 people out of the western city. The passengers were largely quiet on their journey outside of two children who seemed excited by the trip.
Aaron and Meira, who were traveling on the bus with their two children, aged four and six, said they had put off leaving for as long as possible. They thought the situation might improve and when they understood that it wouldn't, decided to leave for Israel. "We preferred to stay. Our lives are here in Ukraine and everything is here, but we have no choice and must go to Israel although we have no work there," Meira said.
Alex Guncher, 40, lives in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. The Russian forces showed up in his city immediately upon invading the country, and he, his wife, and two daughters later decided to head in the direction of the Polish border. "We were on the road for a few days, and we stayed here for as long as we could but now there's no choice, and we decided to head out in the direction of the Polish border. My wife and daughters are waiting for me there, and I hope they'll let me leave because if not, we'll all return to Lviv together."
The bus stopped 17 kilometers (10.6 miles) from the border to wait for the consul. One of the passengers, Alex Ponfilovich, whose family lives in Bat Yam, showed us his Israeli identification card and told us he was leaving Ukraine with his cat. His home in Chernihiv was destroyed, and he now hopes to start a new life in Israel, alongside his family there.
An hour and a half later, Consul Alon Shoham arrived. Everyone listened eagerly to his explanation on the process they should expect at the border. In a moment, his diplomatic vehicle transforms into a mobile consulate as he calls the passengers over one at a time. Inside the car, a consulate worker issues them temporary passports that will enable them to leave Ukraine.
"We feel now like the pressure is decreasing a bit. If at first dozens of buses would depart each day, now there's one a day," Shoham told Israel Hayom. "We are the only country taking care of its citizens. We won't leave anyone behind," he said.
As the bus left for the border crossing, the passengers' feeling of stress was palpable. Their fate would be determined by whether the authorities would approve the temporary passports of the men, who according to Ukrainian law are forbidden from leaving the country.
The passports ended up doing the job. Sighs of relief were audible as the men and their relatives learned they would be allowed to leave Ukraine. When they received their papers, shouts of joy could be heard throughout the bus.
Some of the passengers will remain in Europe, while others will come to Israel. All of them say that as soon as the war is over, they will board the first plane home to Ukraine.
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