A plane carrying 240 immigrants from Ukraine landed in Israel on a special flight chartered by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

The group encompasses 62 families, including 60 children and adolescents and 10 immigrants above age 70. They plan to settle in 26 different cities and towns across Israel, from Katzrin in the north to Eilat in the far south.

“My spine is tingling with excitement. I’m overjoyed to be moving to Israel and reuniting with my family,” says Maria Kolavkov, 41, from the battle region of Donetsk.

A couple also from Donetsk, Vatslav and Enora Braverman with their three-year-old son Leonid, explained that for a long time war was part and parcel of daily life. “The danger and perils of war were right outside our door,” said Vatslav. “Any simple errand could potentially end in disaster and tragedy.’’

The Vyotov family arrived with all three generations—parents Alena and Maxim, two children ages 11 and 16, and the grandparents. They abandoned their home in Mariupol in east Ukraine which is in close proximity to the battlefields already at the start of the war. “The realization that there is no real future for us in Ukraine, and that it’s not worthwhile to move to a different city led us to conclude that what we really want is to return to the country of the Jewish people,” Alena declared.

In 2014, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews launched an independent project to facilitate immigration to Israel. Since then, immigrants from 19 countries around the world, including 5,418 from Ukraine alone, have made Israel their home.

Like all new immigrants who settle permanently in Israel with help from the Fellowship, the new immigrants will all receive $800 in financial aid per adult and $400 per child, in addition to the full costs of airline tickets to Israel. The extra stipend and financial aid endowed to new immigrants by the Fellowship is in addition to the basket of benefits provided by Israel’s Ministry of Absorption.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, President of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, stressed that ‘’immigration is an engine of societal growth, economic development and the realization of the Zionist dream.’’ ‘’The immigration project is still far from complete, and there are still countless Jews around the world seeking to come to Israel for reasons ranging from Zionist ideals to distress to risk. We guarantee that every Jew who wants to move to Israel can come and benefit from personal assistance and support until he is successfully integrated into Israeli society and workforce.”