Ukrainian synagogue hit by Molotov cocktail

The attack was the second time a Jewish target was attacked during Passover in Kryvyi Rih.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Unknown vandals threw a Molotov cocktail at a synagogue in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine on Saturday night as the Jewish community celebrated the last days of Passover.

“This was a direct attack on the Jewish community,” the city’s Jewish spiritual leader, Chabad Rabbi Liron Edri, told The Jerusalem Post newspaper. “Thankfully, the reinforced windows held up, and the firebomb didn’t make it inside. But the message was loud and clear.”

Chabad’s security arm and the Jewish Agency had funded security upgrades to the building, which included shatter-resistant windows and an alarm network that sent authorities quickly to the site to extinguish the flames and inspect the damage.

Security cameras installed outside caught the attack on video, and the police “promised to investigate and bring those responsible to justice,” Edri said.

He noted that this was the second time during the week-long holiday that Jewish assets were struck, as days earlier vandals had spray painted over Jewish symbols on a community vehicle and spilled chemicals over the car.

“The vandalism was clearly targeted,” Edri said. “There was nothing random about it.” 

This was not the first time Jewish property has been attacked during a holiday period in Ukraine.

During the past Hanukkah, the door of a synagogue in Mykolaiv was set ablaze, and a day later, a young man cut the power wire leading to a public electric menorah in the city, extinguishing it.

It was reported at the time that the incidents occurred after Katya Chily, a popular singer, posted to Facebook that “a symbol of Ukrainian Christmas should be installed in the center of the capital, not ‘symbols of other peoples.’”

The largest menorah in Europe had been installed in Kyiv for the holiday, prompting Chily’s post.

There were many antisemitic comments following her remarks, but they were also answered by many who defended their Jewish brethren.

The Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine, which monitors manifestations of antisemitism in the country, reported in January that hate incidents have actually dropped to the low single digits in each of the last three years.

The public has also overwhelmingly supported Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 that set off the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

“Based on the data from this monitoring, we can confidently say that we in Ukraine are currently experiencing the best of times,” said one community representative. “But this, of course, does not mean that we do not have problems. There are some.”