A Russian missile struck the Jewish cemetery in the city of Pervomaisk, located in the Mykolaiv region of southeastern Ukraine, sparking fires that damaged parts of the bais hakevaros.

According to local reports, the missile hit the Behaipoli Cemetery, the largest Jewish cemetery in the city, named after the town of Behaipoli which later became a neighborhood of Pervomaisk. Before the Holocaust, Behaipoli was home to approximately 30,000 Jews. Among those buried in the cemetery are several rabbonim, including Rav Yisrael HaKadosh of Behaipoli and Rav Mordechai of Talna. It remains unclear whether their kevorim sustained damage in the strike.

Videos from the scene show multiple fires burning throughout the cemetery grounds. Fire crews have since arrived and managed to bring the blazes under control, though significant damage to matzeivos was reported.

Chabad shluchim Rabbi Levi-Yitzchok and Rebbetzin Chana Perlstein, who arrived in Pervomaisk in 2004 and revived the local kehilla by reopening the city’s shul, described the sight. “Several fires broke out inside the cemetery, causing major damage to matzeivos. We are now trying to assess the extent of the damage in order to ensure kavod hameis is upheld. We are here on shlichus from the Rebbe, and nothing will deter us or our fellow shluchim across Ukraine from continuing our mission with mesiras nefesh,” Rabbi Perlstein said.

Today, roughly 2,000 Jews live in Pervomaisk, and plans are underway to inaugurate a new mikveh in the city in the coming weeks.

Rabbi Meir Stambler, chairman of the Jewish communities of Ukraine, noted that this was the fourth attack on Jewish institutions in Ukraine within the past month. “Just last week, the shul in Odessa was struck; three weeks ago the home of Rabbi Moshe Weber, a Chabad shliach in Dnipro, was damaged; and days earlier, the car of Rabbi Yossi Wolf, Chief Rabbi of Kherson, was hit directly by a drone. Baruch Hashem, in all of these cases, through open miracles, there were no injuries,” Rabbi Stambler said.

He added: “It is imperative that the Russian terror be stopped. The relentless attacks are causing both loss of life and widespread destruction throughout Ukraine. We continue to daven for safety, peace, and geulah.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)