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LIVE BLOG: Putin’s war on Ukraine

Breaking news updates, opinion and analysis on day eight of the conflict.

Russia to compete in 2022 Maccabiah Games, despite Paralympic ban

Russian athletes will be allowed to participate in this summer’s Maccabiah Games, even after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) banned the Russian and Belarussian teams from the Beijing Winter Olympics that begin on Friday.

Just minutes after the IPC decision was announced on Thursday morning, a Maccabiah source confirmed to Jewish News that both Russian and Ukrainian delegations are still expected attend the Maccabiah Games, due to take place in Israel from 12-26 July, 2022.

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Read the latest edition of the Jewish News newspaper online now

The latest edition of the Jewish News newspaper is now available at newstands and online.

It’s packed with articles covering the Russia-Ukraine conflict and much more.

You can read the entire newspaper right here

Labour MP praises World Jewish Relief’s Ukraine fundraising efforts

A view of Bury South MP Christian Wakeford sitting on the opposition benches during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons
A view of Bury South MP Christian Wakeford sitting on the opposition benches during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons

Labour MP Christian Wakeford has praised the “vital” work being done by World Jewish Relief in raising funds for those affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – while recalling also his visit, just weeks ago, to the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial.

Speaking in the House of Commons, the Bury South MP, who is of Ukranian heritage himself, said: “World Jewish Relief and many other community groups across Prestwich, Whitefield and Radcliffe are raising vital funds for those in Ukraine and those who have already fled Ukraine, and I put on the record my thanks to them.

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‘Shame on you’ shouted at Corbyn during Stop The War event on Ukraine

Our reporter attended an event at which former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke, held by Stop The War Coalition.

One protestor was kicked out for waving a Ukrainian flag.

Corbyn’s speech ended with shouts of: ‘Shame on you’

 

VIDEO: Acrid smoke, uprooted trees – but the memorial still stands

Oz
Oz

EYEWITNESS EXCLUSIVE: Oz Katerji reports from Kyiv, where a Russian rocket attack left chunks of debris scattered across a memorial to murdered Shoah victims

A thick cloud of acrid smoke hangs in the air at the scene of Tuesday night’s Russian missile strike on the Kyiv TV tower, which left chunks of debris scattered across the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial site in the heart of Kyiv.

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Roman Abramovich to sell Chelsea

Roman Abramovich has confirmed his decision to sell Chelsea amid Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian-Israeli billionaire has owned the Blues since 2003 and helped steer the Stamford Bridge club to 19 major trophies.

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OPINION: The emergency refugee response on Ukraine’s Moldova border

IsraAID’s Ethan Schwartz met some of the desperate refugees who are trying to escape Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

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OPINION: How to talk to your children about Putin’s wicked war in Ukraine

A woman cries next to her children in a Kyiv bomb shelter. . Photo by Raphael Lafargue/ABACAPRESS.COM
A woman cries next to her children in a Kyiv bomb shelter. . Photo by Raphael Lafargue/ABACAPRESS.COM

Expert behavioural psychologist and relationship coach, Jo Hemmings, offers advice for mums and dads on finding a balance between protecting your children and answering their questions to allay their fears

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£35M fund for Shoah survivors in Ukraine

Holocaust survivor Natalia Berezhnaya with her home care worker in Odessa. ( Alexander Vdovichenko/Jewish Joint Distribution Committee)
Holocaust survivor Natalia Berezhnaya with her home care worker in Odessa. ( Alexander Vdovichenko/Jewish Joint Distribution Committee)

Jewish organisations in Ukraine have been given a £35 million cash boost to support thousands of local Holocaust survivors, as war continues to rage in the Eastern European country.

The funds, allocated by the Claims Conference, will be used to provide home care and supportive services for frail and vulnerable Shoah victims.

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Footballer describes harrowing experience of fleeing Ukraine

Manor Solomon posted on Instagram about getting out of Ukraine
Manor Solomon posted on Instagram about getting out of Ukraine

An Israeli football star playing in Ukraine has described the harrowing 25-hour journey he endured as he escaped to Poland following the Russian invasion.

“On Thursday morning I woke up to the sound of explosions and alarms and I immediately contacted the team and my friends from Kiev”

“After realizing that I had to take care of myself I decided to set off and at 18:30 I was picked up by a friend’s Ukrainian driver.”

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‘I’m ashamed to be Russian’ – how expats in Tel Aviv are speaking out for Ukraine

Russian Israeli Ivana Mereulova at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Tel Aviv, 1 March, 2022 (Jeremy Last)
Russian Israeli Ivana Mereulova at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Tel Aviv, 1 March, 2022 (Jeremy Last)

Dozens of Ukrainians and Russians showed a display of unity in Tel Aviv on Tuesday as they prepared packages of urgently needed supplies to be sent to families in Ukraine.

In an emotionally charged atmosphere at the city’s Ukrainian Cultural Centre, Jewish News spoke to volunteers as they worked feverishly into the night, packing boxes filled with basic items including toiletries, clothes and medicine donated by local Israelis.

The boxes were being loaded onto a truck headed for a warehouse in central Israel where they were to be transferred directly to the war-ravaged country by air.

Emotions were running high among expats of both countries involved in the devastating conflict.

Valeria Ivashkina, a 31-year-old journalist who moved to Israel from Odessa, Ukraine, only 10 months ago and lives in Ramat Gan with her husband, had been at the cultural centre most of the day.

“It’s hard to not cry, because my relatives – my parents, my sister and my grandparents – are in Ukraine,” she said as she took a break from filling boxes with sanitary products and clothes. “This is my country. When I see what the Russian army is doing with our cities I feel like I was hit in the solar plexus and I can’t breathe.

“My stepfather is fighting in the military and my mother is a dentist who has volunteered since 2014. I’m helping from Israel: finding contacts and speakers from Ukraine for international journalists, coordinating translators, gathering humanitarian aid, but I feel that it’s not enough. I should be there.”

Ukrainian Israeli Valeria Ivashkina at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Tel Aviv, 1 March, 2022. (Jeremy Last)

Expressing a sentiment that was echoed throughout the group of volunteers, Ivashkina said she has nothing against regular Russians.

“I can tell the difference between Russians who support Putin and those who are against him. I am not against Russian culture or language. I am ok with it, but I am not ok with aggression and with chauvinism. We will fight for peace,” she said.

“I have Russian friends in Israel and in Russia. They feel ashamed because they don’t want the war.”