New US ambassador to Ukraine visits Babyn Yar massacre site

Just days after assuming office, US Ambassador to Ukraine Julie Fisher has paid tribute at Babyn Yar in Kyiv, the site of the massacre where more than 33,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis in September 1941.

Accompanied by senior Rabbi Yonatan Markovitch and British-born Rabbi Rafael Rotman, she declared: “We will stand alongside the Jewish community in Ukraine and will not allow antisemitism to rise again. The United States is committed to ensuring that atrocities against Jews never happen again.”

At the site, she lit a memorial candle in honour of the victims, adding: “The United States is committed to remembering the horrors of the Holocaust, to standing with Jewish communities everywhere, and to fighting antisemitism without compromise. Never again is now.”

During the ceremony, Rabbi Markovitch told the Ambassador that he was named after his great-grandfather, who was murdered in the Holocaust along with his wife and children.

Rabbi Rotman spoke about the ongoing restoration efforts at the Babyn Yar ravine, the site of the killings. In September 1941, members of the Einsatzgruppen murdered more than 33,000 Jews over the course of 48 hours.

Rabbi Markovitch then recited the memorial prayer for the victims, saying: “In these days, when Jews are attacked not only in Ukraine but across Europe and even in Israel, this visit sends a clear message: the Jewish community is not alone. The whole world is watching.”

In March 2022, a Russian strike damaged part of the memorial site, which has since been repaired.