The district court in the city of Kiroburad, near Uman in Ukraine, has handed down a sentence of just two years' probation for an Ukrainian who brutally assaulted a Jewish man in Ukraine last year, leaving him with extensive injuries.
Around a year ago, Rabbi Eliyahu Cheshin, a prominent member of the Breslov community in Kiev, took his children to a playground in the town of Trubitsa, located around 40 kilometers away from Uman. There he was approached by a Ukrainian who kicked him, knocking him to the ground, and then continued to attack him, breaking his nose - all this while Cheshin's wife and nine children watched in horror. Worse still, a number of Ukrainians who were nearby prevented the family from escaping.
At one point, Cheshin managed to flee into a nearby post office where he hoped he would find help, but instead staff ordered him to leave. The attacker was waiting for him outside and as he emerged, he continued the assault, in full view of a number of eye-witnesses who described the brutality of the attack.
Eventually the attacker stopped the violent beating and the family fled in their car, headed for Uman, while the attacker pursued in his own vehicle, flouting traffic laws in his determination to track the family to their destination.
Thankfully, the Cheshin family managed to reach the hospital in Uman where the father was treated for his injuries, which included head wounds and a broken nose.
Police from the Uman department later arrived to take evidence from him and open an investigation. The case is now closed with the lenient sentence handed down to the attacker.