TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — When Tetiana Kurakova fled Ukraine weeks after Russia invaded in 2022, she thought she had left behind buildings with gaping holes, streets lined with rubble, and the fear felt while hiding from airstrikes.
In Israel, friends helped the 40-year-old makeup artist relaunch her career, and she slowly built a life in the coastal city of Bat Yam.
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FILE - Israeli soldiers search through the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike in Bat Yam, central Israel, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers search for survivors amid the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike in Bat Yam, central Israel, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
Ukrainian makeup artist Tetiana Kurakova, 40, takes the elevator in a hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 17, 2025, that was turned into a shelter for evacuees from Bat Yam, which was hit by an Iranian strike. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Ukrainian makeup artist Tetiana Kurakova, 40, sits in a hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 17, 2025, that was turned into a shelter for evacuees from Bat Yam, which was hit by an Iranian strike. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
But early Sunday, an Iranian missile tore through the building next to hers, killing nine people, wounding dozens, and damaging or destroying hundreds of homes, including Kurakova’s.
It was the deadliest single strike from Iran in seven days of conflict, which began Friday when Israel launched airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites as well as top generals and nuclear scientists. Iran has fired some 450 missiles and hundreds of drones in retaliation.
Days later, staying in a hotel in nearby Tel Aviv with 250 other evacuees from Bat Yam, Kurakova cried when she recalled the strike, which sheared the face off of a multistory apartment building and destroyed many buildings around it.
“It felt like a nightmare. I can’t even describe how big it was,” she said. “I had a panic attack. I just sat on the road, leaned on (my friend) Masha, and started to cry, to sob from all the misery that had happened.”
Kurakova is one of around 30,000 Ukrainians who have made Israel their home since Russia’s war in Ukraine began, about half of whom have gained citizenship through their Jewish heritage, according to Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration.
Kurakova, who does not have citizenship, left home via Poland after about a month spent hiding from constant strikes in early 2022. She ended up in Israel, where she had a number of friends and some professional contacts.
Five of the victims in the Bat Yam strike were Ukrainians from the same family who had come to Israel to escape the war and receive medical treatment for a 7-year-old girl who had blood cancer, Israeli media reported.
The Ukrainian Embassy in Israel would not provide details on individuals, citing privacy concerns. It said it was working to repatriate the bodies, but faced challenges because Israel's airspace is closed due to ongoing attacks.
Bat Yam has a large population of residents from the former Soviet Union, many of whom emigrated in a wave in the early 1990s, and was a natural place for many newly arrived Ukrainians to settle.
The working-class city is centrally located but the cost of living is lower than in Tel Aviv, next door. But older buildings in such cities — and in Arab towns and rural arras — often lack adequate shelters, though anything built since 1993 is required to have reinforced safe rooms.
More than a year after Kurakova arrived in Israel, Hamas attacked the country's south, igniting a war in the Gaza Strip. She recalled being frightened in the early days after the militants' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The fighting was just 60 kilometers (37 miles) to the south, and some nights, she could hear the booms from Gaza.
But she wasn't prepared for it to hit so close to home.
In the fighting between Israel and Iran, 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds injured. Missiles have struck 40 sites, including apartment buildings, offices and a hospital, according to Israeli authorities. Air raid sirens have repeatedly forced Israelis to run for shelter.
Meanwhile, panicked residents of Iran's capital have spent restless nights in metro stations and thousands have fled. More than 600 people, including over 200 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group.
Kurakova said the past few days have brought her right back to the early days of Russia’s invasion.
“I don’t even stop seeing dreams that I’m hiding somewhere, running from Shahed drones, bombs, and looking for shelter somewhere,” she said, referring to the Iranian-made drones used against both Israel and Ukraine.
In Bat Yam, the force of the blast blew out windows and damaged the walls of Kurakova’s second-floor apartment.
She was able to salvage a few belongings, but because of structural concerns, it isn’t clear if she will be able to return home. Some 5,000 Israelis have been displaced across the country after missiles destroyed or damaged homes, according to the prime minister’s office.
Kurakova's mother, still living in the part of the Donetsk region of Ukraine under Russian occupation, has urged her daughter to leave Israel and move somewhere, anywhere else. Kurakova still hasn’t decided what to do.
“I feel terrified inside and outside. I feel terrified by the hopelessness,” Kurakova said, adding that while she had previously taken comfort in Israel's air defense systems, now she wasn't so sure.
“That was the reason I left Ukraine," she said. "I didn’t understand that it was possible here.”
Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.
FILE - Israeli soldiers search through the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike in Bat Yam, central Israel, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner, File)
FILE - Israeli soldiers search for survivors amid the rubble of residential buildings destroyed by an Iranian missile strike in Bat Yam, central Israel, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
Ukrainian makeup artist Tetiana Kurakova, 40, takes the elevator in a hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 17, 2025, that was turned into a shelter for evacuees from Bat Yam, which was hit by an Iranian strike. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Ukrainian makeup artist Tetiana Kurakova, 40, sits in a hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 17, 2025, that was turned into a shelter for evacuees from Bat Yam, which was hit by an Iranian strike. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as an ongoing crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.
Trump said late Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports mount of increasing deaths and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.
Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross checking information. It said at least 544 people have been killed so far, including 496 protesters and 48 people from the security forces. It said more than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
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A witness told the AP that the streets of Tehran empty at the sunset call to prayers each night.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, addressed “Dear parents,” which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
—- By Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iran drew tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators to the streets Monday in a show of power after nationwide protests challenging the country’s theocracy.
Iranian state television showed images of demonstrators thronging Tehran toward Enghelab Square in the capital.
It called the demonstration an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism,” without addressing the underlying anger in the country over the nation’s ailing economy. That sparked the protests over two weeks ago.
State television aired images of such demonstrations around the country, trying to signal it had overcome the protests, as claimed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier in the day.
China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”
He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”
Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”
He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.
Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.
“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.
However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”
The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.
The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.
Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.
“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.
Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.
Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.
A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.
Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.
The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.
Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Activists take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
