Moscow frees Israelis arrested in Ukraine, Foreign Ministry confirms

The family said they were not harmed during the ordeal.

By World Israel News Staff

An Israeli family detained by the Russians on Monday was freed hours after the arrest, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed.

Tatiana Kumok, an Israeli citizen, owns a bridal salon in Tel Aviv and had traveled to her Ukrainian hometown of Melitopol to assist at a local branch of the business. She wrote about the war and the situation in Ukraine on Facebook.

Kumok “has Israeli citizenship, immigrated to Israel about 10 years ago and has a business in Israel. She traveled to Ukraine in the summer to rehabilitate the business that remained there,” her friend Tali Brodecki told N12 following the arrest.

“The war caught her there and she documented everything that was happening there from the beginning, when the city was under Russian occupation.”

Kumok’s father owns a local newspaper in Melitopol, and the Russians were reportedly concerned with “progaganda” he might publish Brodecki said. Kumok’s mother was also detained.

Israel’s ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, confirmed that the family had been arrested in Melitopol, adding that “we have conveyed the messages required for their release,” N12 reported.

After being released, Kumok told reporters that she was and her parents were not harmed during the ordeal.

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