CNN reported overnight Wednesday that a “Jewish ritual bath” under the “central synagogue in the Ukrainian city of Uman” is now serving as a shelter for locals.

CNN reporters spoke to the locals, stating that “despite reports of tension between the Hasidic visitors and Ukrainian locals,” the locals in the shelter spoke positively about the Jewish community and scoffed at Putin’s rhetoric of “denazifying” Ukraine.

There are only about 40 Jews left in Uman. According to a Chareidim10 report, the gabai of the tzion refuses to leave Uman. Additionally, the staff of Ichud Breslov B’Uman remain at the site. “Despite the emergency situation, Ichud Breslov is not abandoning the kever of the tzaddik,” they said.

Ichud Breslov has hired a special unit of the Ukrainian National Guard to guard the area of Reb Nachman’s tzion.

Due to emergency guidelines ordering total darkness throughout the night, all the windows of buildings by Reb Nachman’s kever have been sealed.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)