Two unidentified males wearing ski masks threw firebombs at the facade of a synagogue in Ukraine on Sunday.
Security camera documented the incident at the synagogue of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, said Rabbi Liron Ederi, the Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to the city, the hometown of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The individuals, who looked like men or adolescent boys, hurled the firebombs at the building shortly after dozens of Jews had finished celebrating the last day of Passover at Ederi’s home, which is situated about 500 yards from the synagogue.
“No one saw it happen,” the rabbi said.
No one was hurt and little damage was caused by the incident at the Beit Shmuel Synagogue and Jewish Community Center, he added.
Police have beefed up security around the community as they investigate the incident, he said.
“It’s too early to say whether this was an antisemitic incident or whether there’s something else going on, and police are looking into several angles,” Ederi said. “But it looks like a bunch of teenagers who’d been incited online.”
In recent weeks, unidentified individuals slashed the tires of a Jewish community-owned car and torched a storage shed owned by one of the community’s members, said Ederi.
The community quickly had the burn marks removed from the facade of the building, which features modern yet culturally resonant architecture meant to reflect the revival of Jewish life in the region after decades of suppression under the Soviet Union.
Built in 2010, the synagogue has striped brickwork in earth tones and boasts a large Star of David, flanked by Hebrew and Cyrillic text that signals its role as synagogue and community center.
Antisemitic incidents are rare in Ukraine and Russia, which have been at war since Russia invaded the former in February 2022. Throughout the conflict, the countries have accused each other of stoking antisemitism and targeting Jews.
Jewish community leaders in both countries have largely denied these claims.
