Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Pro-Russia forces in Ukraine free captured Israeli man

Vladimir Kozlovsky was reportedly given over to the Russian Jewish community and will later go to Israel to join his wife in Tel Aviv.

From a video of Vladimir Kozlovsky, who was kidnapped by pro-Russian militants in Ukraine, praying in a synagogue in Luhansk after being released, Aug. 25, 2022. Source: Twitter.
From a video of Vladimir Kozlovsky, who was kidnapped by pro-Russian militants in Ukraine, praying in a synagogue in Luhansk after being released, Aug. 25, 2022. Source: Twitter.

Russian official media reported that an Israeli national who was abducted by pro-Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine has been freed and is on his way to Israel.

According to Russian Television and Radio, Vladimir Kozlovsky was given over to the Russian Jewish community and will later go to Israel to join his wife in Tel Aviv.

A news report showed him speaking to his wife, then standing in a synagogue praying with tallit and tefillin.

“He prayed freely in Luhansk after he shared all the information known to him,” said the video, which was shared on social media. “It was decided to transfer the Israeli citizen to the Jewish community of Russia,” it added.

In the video, Kozlovsky initially stated that said he did not expect to survive, but to be tortured and killed.

An American fighter jet hit the Panama-flagged ship with a “precision munition, fully disabling the ship’s propulsion without harming the crew,” U.S. Central Command said.
“Your ability to find the strength to rise above the pain, to combat the immediate threat to your life, and to operate sound judgment demonstrates the strength of your character,” Israel’s president wrote.
“We tried to make it clear to them that this is a memorial that was built for those who died in a horrible terrorist attack,” Lawrence Puccini told JNS.
“One clear issue that New Jerseyans are paying for is that Israel and the United States decided to go to war with Iran,’’ the New Jersey Democrat said in a Senate debate with Justin Murphy.