All the Jewish Ukraine news you need to know

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(JTA) — The situation in Ukraine and Eastern Europe is changing by the minute, making it difficult to keep up. What we do know: the future of Jewish life in the region will likely look much different than it does now.

We’ve compiled all of our coverage on the ongoing crisis here, divided into categories, and we will update it regularly, in reverse chronological order.

Have questions that you would like to see answered in our reporting? Email us at tips@jta.org.

Thanks for reading.

Dispatches

A TikTok rabbi helps Jewish Ukrainian refugees feel comfortable in Moldova shelters

Refugees with Jacuzzis: The surreal life of 200 Jews at a 4-star resort in wartime Ukraine

Ukraine invasion puts Chabad of Russia ‘between a rock and a hard place’

In Ukraine, Israeli medical staff and Jewish volunteers help thousands cope with war’s effects

These Messianic missionaries were at the Ukraine border, and now they’re coming to New York

From tefillin to troop training: Meet the Orthodox former IDF soldier on the front lines in Ukraine

NY rabbis bear witness to the catastrophe — and compassion — on Ukraine’s border

In a Romanian resort town, Jewish children from Odessa celebrate Purim as refugees

‘It’s God’s work’: Christians are helping hundreds of Ukrainian Jews escape the war to Israel

Babyn Yar was his backyard. Now this 95-year-old Holocaust survivor has escaped Ukraine after a harrowing ordeal.

At Manhattan’s only Russian dual-language school, Jewish parents stand in solidarity with Ukraine

‘Jewish soup’ is keeping soldiers and refugees warm at the Romanian-Ukrainian border

Former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir is a hero to Ukrainians in the fight against Russia

At the Moldova border, Jews from Odessa wonder when they’ll be able to return home

As Russian siege wears on, Jews left behind in Ukrainian cities face grim conditions

Jewish Ukrainians gear up for fierce Russia fight, alongside the ‘neo-Nazis’ they say Putin is lying about

In Moldova, Ukrainian Jewish refugees anxiously wait out the war in synagogues and Jewish centers

Long bus rides, temporary shelters and lots of phone calls: Inside the Jewish response to the mounting refugee crisis in Poland

In synagogue bunkers and refugee convoys, Ukrainian Jews seek safety amid worsening war

In Brooklyn’s ‘Little Odessa,’ Jews from Ukraine and Russia find the war ‘terrifying’

Prayer and panic as Ukrainian rabbis guide their communities into a wartime Shabbat

Ukrainian Jews, scarred by a bloody history, find themselves refugees once again

Ukraine’s Jews hunker down as long-feared Russian invasion becomes deadly reality

In Ukraine, young Jews are torn between fighting for their country — and leaving for another

A global day to remember the Holocaust grows in scope — and urgency

Ukraine’s Jews prepare to commemorate the Holocaust as Russia’s war drums thunder

News

Despite danger and disruption, Ukrainian Jews prepare to celebrate Passover in public seders

Polish-Jewish journalist quits newspaper after it demands different description of ‘neo-Nazi’ Ukrainian militia

UK slaps sanctions on European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor, an alleged Putin crony

UK slaps sanctions on European Jewish Congress President Moshe Kantor, an alleged Putin crony

European Jewish Congress head Moshe Kantor resigns following UK sanctions

Belgian car shop owner says he won’t serve Jews due to Israel’s stance on Ukraine

Report: Jewish community leader in Ukraine stabbed while delivering aid

War in Ukraine could put a crunch on ‘shmura’ matzah supplies

Vandals put pig’s head and write antisemitic slogan outside Russian-Jewish journalist’s home

Ukraine says a memorial to Jews murdered during the Holocaust was damaged by Russian shelling

French Holocaust researcher and Babyn Yar memorial center to probe alleged Russian war crimes

MacKenzie Scott gives $10 million to Jewish nonprofit HIAS for Ukraine refugee relief

Holocaust survivor who lived through 4 Nazi camps killed in Ukraine by Russia strike

How a childhood friendship in Ukraine led to an American Purim spiel produced under siege

After searing speech to Israeli lawmakers, Zelensky again points to Jerusalem as potential negotiations site

As many flee Ukraine, some rabbis have headed there — to celebrate Purim

Serafim Sabaranskiy, a Ukrainian Jew who enlisted to defend his country, dies in a Russian airstrike

Yeshiva U students land in Vienna to help Ukrainian refugees

Hillel and other Jewish groups call to dedicate a traditional pre-Purim fast day to Ukraine

19 New York rabbis are headed to Poland to aid Ukrainian refugees

Zelensky says Jerusalem could serve as potential site for negotiation with Russia

Germany loosens asylum requirements for Ukrainian Jews amid ongoing war with Russia

In emotional appeal to US Jewish leaders, Zelensky calls Russian invasion ‘pure Nazism’

Zelensky thanks Israel for support a day after Bennett’s meeting with Putin in Moscow

Hundreds of Ukrainian refugees have landed in Israel. Thousands more could follow.

Israeli PM Bennett meets with Putin in Moscow to discuss Ukraine, then phones Zelensky

Israeli-Canadian hockey star shares dramatic escape from Ukraine

Babyn Yar wasn’t bombed. But Ukraine’s Zelensky finds a useful tool to rally Jews to his cause.

Hillel working to help students from Ukraine as Kharkiv chapter is destroyed in bombing

Russian bombs appear to hit site of Babyn Yar Nazi massacre near Kyiv

NY Jewish federation approves $3 million in Ukraine emergency funding

Prayers for peace: How the Jewish world is responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Declaring war on Ukraine, Russia’s Putin cites goal of ‘denazification’ of country with Jewish president

Zelensky

2022 Grammys: Zelensky’s video address and other Jewish moments

Zelensky offers new details about his family’s Holocaust history, igniting debate over Ukrainian Holocaust memory

In appeal to Israel, Zelensky invokes the ‘final solution’: ‘You cannot mediate between good and evil’

Zelensky to German parliament: Russia’s war has made the phrase ‘never again’ meaningless

Madison Cawthorn: Volodymr Zelensky is a ‘woke’ ‘thug’

The Jewish owner of America’s bobblehead museum has a Volodymyr Zelensky figure in production

18 things to know about Volodymyr Zelensky, showman, ‘Paddington’ voice and Jewish defender of Ukrainian democracy

Ukraine’s Zelensky to world’s Jews: ‘Do not remain silent right now’

For many Jews watching Ukraine’s war, Volodymyr Zelensky is a ‘modern Maccabee’

Volodymyr Zelensky was a Jewish comedian. Now the world’s eyes are on him.

Oligarchs

Documents from Roman Abramovich’s controversial Portuguese naturalization surface online

Russian Jewish oligarchs step down from board of Genesis Group, the Jewish philanthropy they helped found

Following Roman Abramovich scrutiny, Portugal tightens rules for Sephardic Jews applying for citizenship

Rabbi tied to inquiry into Roman Abramovich’s Portuguese citizenship arrested: Report

Roman Abramovich, Jewish billionaire with ties to Putin, to sell Chelsea soccer team

Russia’s Jewish oligarchs and their donations come under threat of Western sanctions amid Ukraine war

Israel

Israel’s Yair Lapid condemns ‘horrific images’ emerging from Bucha, as Israeli balancing act on Ukraine continues

Ukrainian children are finding refuge in an Israeli town and its school for Russian speakers

Ukrainian refugee wins women’s race at Jerusalem marathon

Israel is setting up a $6.4M field hospital in western Ukraine

After hitting a cap, Israel will allow in Ukrainian refugees ineligible for citizenship if they have local relatives

Yad Vashem says it is suspending ties to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich after he is hit with UK sanctions

Zelensky to speak to Knesset members

Israel to allow 25,000 non-Jewish Ukrainian immigrants to stay

Israel prepares for wave of immigrants from Ukraine while debating how many non-Jewish refugees will be allowed in

Zelensky thanks Israel for support a day after Bennett’s meeting with Putin in Moscow

Israeli PM Bennett meets with Putin in Moscow to discuss Ukraine, then phones Zelensky

Israel condemns Russian invasion and offers ‘humanitarian assistance’ to Ukrainians

Why Israel is having trouble picking sides in Russia’s war on Ukraine

Ukraine asks Israel to mediate in war with Russia

Israel to join UN condemnation of Russian invasion as Ukraine evacuation and aid efforts continue

Russian-speaking Israelis display the gamut of emotions on war in Ukraine

US politics

28 major US Jewish groups call on Biden to accept Ukraine refugees

‘There’s a Holocaust going on,’ Chuck Schumer says in urging assistance for Ukraine

UJA New York to approve another $2 million in funding for Ukraine

War in Ukraine revives the US Jewish community’s self-help networks

First person and opinion

Among Ukraine’s refugees, I found new meaning in Passover’s open door 

This year, I am a refugee spending a joyful Passover in Berlin. Next year in Kharkiv.

The themes of Passover, and the bonds of history, tie our struggles to those of Ukrainian Jews

For a Polish Jew like me, the war on Ukraine is about our shared futures

Ukraine, Russia and the unbearable lightness of ‘never again’

My heart breaks for Ukraine — and the Ethiopian Jews who can’t get the same embrace from Israel

Jews and non-Jews share a bloody history in Ukraine. But there are reasons for hope.

The Jewish post-rescue era ended with the war in Ukraine

My history with my native Ukraine is complicated and often painful. But I pray for the safety of my friends and family.

The war in Ukraine has turned empowered and independent Jewish women into the displaced

Ukraine’s Jewish history is filled with trauma. But while the past is prologue, it’s not destiny.

What Putin’s talking about when he talks about ‘denazification’

The years I spent in Ukraine taught me a very Jewish concept: hope

My Jewish family fled Kyiv in 1989. My heart breaks for the city today.

More info on the Jews of Ukraine

Here’s how to help the Jews of Ukraine

Explainer: Who are Ukraine’s Jews, and how is Russia’s invasion affecting them? 

 

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