Yelena Trupanov

Yelena Trupanov and her mother Irena Tati endured over seven weeks of captivity in Gaza, held by Hamas, before being released.

Yelena's son Sasha remains in captivity; her husband Vitaly was murdered by Hamas. Their home, Kibbutz Nir Oz, was once a vibrant community; it is now marred by the physical destruction of its infrastructure, including bullet-riddled communal areas and burned-out buildings. The kibbutz's close proximity to the Gaza border made it one of the hardest-hit areas during the hostilities, with a significant portion of its population affected through death, kidnapping, or displacement.