Amid 'Peace' Talks: Russian Missile Strikes Jewish Cemetery
A Russian missile attack damaged a historic Jewish cemetery in Ukraine, raising concerns about the safety of sacred graves and prompting calls for peace. Community leaders highlight a pattern of attacks on Jewish sites amid the ongoing conflict.
This afternoon, a Russian missile struck the Jewish cemetery in Pervomaisk, located in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region, igniting multiple fires that caused significant damage to the sacred site. The attack targeted the Bohopol Cemetery, the largest of Pervomaisk’s five Jewish burial grounds, named after the historic town of Bohopol, which merged into the city and once housed a vibrant Jewish community of approximately 30,000 before the Holocaust. Among the revered figures interred there are Harav Yisrael HaKadosh of Bohopol and the Tolner Rebbe Harav Mordechai, though it remains uncertain whether their graves sustained harm.
Videos circulating from the scene depict flames spreading across the cemetery, prompting firefighters to rush in and subdue the blazes, though numerous tombstones were left damaged. Chabad emissaries Rabbi Levi-Yitzhak and Rebbetzin Hannah Perlstein, who revitalized Jewish life in Pervomaisk since their arrival in 2004 by reopening the synagogue, shared their distress. Rabbi Levi-Yitzhak stated, “Firefighters recently arrived at the cemetery to put out several fires that broke out there and caused extensive damage to the tombstones. We are trying to assess the damage with the aim of treating the sanctity of the deceased.” The couple’s efforts have sustained a community of about 2,000 Jews, with a new mikveh slated for dedication next month.
Rabbi Meir Stambler, head of Ukraine’s Jewish communities, condemned the attack as the fourth targeting Jewish sites in a month, citing recent incidents: the Odessa synagogue strike last week, Rabbi Moshe Weber’s home in Dnipro three weeks ago, and Rabbi Yossi Wolf’s car in Kherson hit by a drone days earlier. “Thank G-d, in all the cases I mentioned, by great miracles, there were no physical injuries. It is necessary to put an end to Russian terrorism, which is causing loss of life and great damage throughout Ukraine. We pray for peace and redemption,” he said. This escalation, amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war since 2022, heightens fears for Jewish heritage sites.