A Russian missile hit the Jewish cemetery in the city of Pervomaisk in the Mykolaiv region, in southeastern Ukraine, on Tuesday afternoon. Videos from the scene show fires breaking out in several locations within the cemetery grounds.
The missile hit the Bohopol cemetery, the largest of the five Jewish cemeteries in the city. The cemetery's name is derived from the town of Bohopol, which became a neighborhood in the city of Pervomaisk, and until the Holocaust, about 30,000 Jews lived there.
Several rabbis are buried there, including Rabbi Yisrael HaKadosh of Bohopol and Rabbi Mordechai of Talna, but it is not clear whether their graves were also damaged.
In 2004, Chabad Rabbi Levi-Yitzhak and Rebbetzin Hannah Perlstein arrived in the city, reopened the synagogue, and revived the Jewish community. Today, about 2,000 Jews live in there and a mikveh (ritual bath) is planned to be dedicated there next month.
According to Rabbi Levi-Yitzhak, "Firefighters recently arrived at the cemetery to put out several fires that broke out there and caused extensive damage to the tombstones. We are trying to assess the damage with the aim of treating the sanctity of the deceased. We are here on behalf of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and nothing will deter us and our brothers who are sent forth with dedication throughout the country."
Rabbi Meir Stambler, chairman of the Jewish communities in Ukraine, said: "This is the fourth attack on the Jewish community in Ukraine in a month. As you may recall, just last week the synagogue in Odessa was hit, about three weeks ago the house of Rabbi Moshe Weber, a Chabad emissary, was hit in Dnipro, and a few days earlier the car of Rabbi Yossi Wolf, the rabbi of Kherson, was hit by a direct hit from a drone. Thank God, in all the cases I mentioned, by great miracles, there were no physical injuries. It is necessary to put an end to Russian terrorism, which is causing loss of life and great damage throughout Ukraine. We pray for peace and redemption."