Fear of rising antisemitism in Ukraine after synagogue is attacked with Molotov cocktail

A synagogue in the Ukrainian city Kryvyi Rih was attacked on Saturday night with a Molotov cocktail. The incident, which is only one of several recent antisemitic attacks, has left the local Jewish community concerned about growing levels of antisemitism in Ukrainian society.

The city’s police have initiated a probe into the antisemitic attack. Ukrainian security forces were quickly dispatched to inspect the synagogue, and local authorities have vowed to apprehend and punish the perpetrators. 

The city’s rabbi Liron Edri, who is also a Chabad emissary, stressed that the incident constitutes an assault on the city’s Jewish community. 

“This was a direct attack on the Jewish community,” Edri said in an interview with the Jerusalem Post. 

“The vandalism was clearly targeted,” he continued. “There was nothing random about it,” he added. 

“Thankfully, the reinforced windows held up, and the firebomb didn’t make it inside. But the message was loud and clear,” the rabbi warned. 

Elia Goldberg, the Chabad World Assistance’s Ukraine security coordinator, revealed that the synagogue was equipped with a security system thanks to assistance from the Jewish Agency’s Security Fund. 

“The shielding we installed saved lives,” Goldberg stated. “It’s a reminder that preemptive protection is not just important – it’s essential,” Goldberg added.

While local authorities have promised to apprehend the perpetrators, Edri and other local Jews are concerned that there is a growing antisemitic trend in Ukrainian society. 

“We’re starting to fear that this may not be isolated,” Edri warned. “There seems to be a growing pattern of coordinated attempts to intimidate and harm Jewish communities in Eastern Europe."

However, the Chabad rabbi vowed that the Jewish community will not be intimidated by antisemitism. 

“We won’t be intimidated,” he said. “Light will overcome darkness. We will keep our doors open, and our community will continue to gather and pray."

He concluded by praising the quick response from local authorities. 

“The police arrived immediately and took the matter seriously,” Edri stated. “They’ve promised to investigate and bring those responsible to justice."

Two years ago, in April 2023, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli called on the ambassador of Ukraine to address the problem of antisemitism in the country after the city council in Kyiv looked to name a street after a Nazi collaborator and Schutzstaffel (S.S.) official, Volodymyr Kubiyovych.

“During [World War II], Kubiyovych headed the social welfare and the economic committee (the Ukrainian Central Committee), which published in August 1942 an officiant notice to deport Jews and anyone who hid them,” Chikli wrote at the time. 

“It is of the utmost importance of me to reach out to you personally about this problematic incident,” Chikli added about the street-naming. 

The antisemitic incidents in Ukraine are happening amid the ongoing war with Russia. 

In December 2024, Ukraine’s Jewish-born President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a local Hanukkah event. 

“We have a unique country – today, we celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah. It's very good that in Ukraine we can all live together, all fight the darkness, as Shmuel Kaminetsky said,” Zelensky stated. 

“In Ukraine, people have a nature that makes them inherently light. So I'm sure that, as you say and as Hanukkah says, the light will definitely overcome the darkness. I am sure of that,” the Ukrainian president added.