A Ukrainian court has reportedly sentenced four people to prison for the fatal assault and robbery in 2016 of Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Menachem Mendel Deitsch in Zhytomyr, Ukraine.
Two Ukrainian men were sentenced to nine and 11 years in prison, respectively, for the killing, while two women, who were minors at the time, were sentenced to seven years, according to the anash.org website.
Deitsch, a longtime Chabad emissary to France and Israel, was assaulted and robbed at Zhytomyr’s central train station on Oct. 7, 2016, after spending Rosh Hashanah in Haditch, Ukraine, the final resting place of Chabad founder Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, according to Chabad.org.
Deitsch, who suffered brain trauma during the assault, underwent surgery in Zhytomyr before being airlifted to Tel Hashomer Hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel. He never regained consciousness following the attack and died on April 15 in Jerusalem.
The rabbi had been working on fostering Jewish life in the former Soviet Union for years and was an organizer for events in Haditch. He is survived by his wife and 11 children.
