October 7 · Personal story
Irena Tati
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, separately from her family.
Current outcome
Released alive · November 29, 2023
Released alive from Gaza on November 29, 2023, and returned to Israel.
01
Medicine and a new home
Irena Tati worked for forty years as a pediatric tuberculosis physician in Rostov-on-Don. She moved to Israel in April 2021 to be near her only daughter Yelena and grandson Sasha, and rented a home near theirs in Nir Oz. Her community remembers how much she enjoyed walking around the kibbutz and its views. In a September 2025 interview, Irena recalled feeling comfortable and safe in Russia and once hoping to divide her time between Russia and Israel. Her daughter’s family was the reason she had chosen to make a home in the kibbutz.
02
A call to her daughter
On October 7, Irena was at home in Nir Oz, separately from her daughter’s household. That morning she had taken up the Five Books of Moses to read the final portion for Simchat Torah. In her later interview, she recalled reading in the morning when she noticed a neighboring house burning and armed men outside. She called Yelena, who told her that terrorists were there. The phone call ended amid gunfire. Irena was taken from her own home; Yelena was taken from another home, and Sasha was abducted separately while visiting the family.
03
Waiting without news
Irena described being taken across the border and moved between places in Gaza. At first she and two other women slept on a large sofa in a house; later she was among Nir Oz hostages held in Nasser Hospital. She did not speak Hebrew and had no news of her family. Food was scarce: she remembered half a pita in the morning and evening, and rice. Prayer and reciting Pushkin, Lermontov and Tsvetaeva helped her through sleepless nights. A Palestinian doctor who spoke Russian talked with her about medicine. She recalled uncertainty and hunger wearing her down.
04
Released on November 29
Irena was released late on November 29, 2023. In her personal account she recalled the nighttime journey and hearing her daughter call “Mom?” as they met in a car. They had been held in different places and returned to Israel on the same day. In an Israeli hospital, Irena learned that her son-in-law Vitaly had been murdered. Her grandson Sasha was still captive. The reunion with Yelena ended their separation, but left them facing the loss of Vitaly and waiting for news of Sasha.
05
Life in a hotel room
In a September 2025 interview, Irena said she was still living in a hotel and missed having a home, a familiar language and a circle of friends. She described rarely leaving her room and not using social media. The Nir Oz profile says she later lived in Ramat Gan, after staying at Kfar Maccabiah with Yelena and Sasha. She said she was living a life different from the one she wanted and still hoped her survival had a purpose.