Big Jewish charity in Ukraine evacuates families as it struggles to reach staff

An international Jewish charity working in Ukraine has said it is now struggling to talk to its staff on the ground, as it moved Jewish families from central regions into temporary shelter in the country’s west, away from the fighting.

Russian missile attacks against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure – including power stations, water treatment facilities, and even hospitals – has left much of the country in ruins, with power and water shortages.

It prompted Jewish education charity ORT, which operates in six Ukrainian cities, to evacuate families from Zaporizhzhia and Odesa, citing a significant deterioration in living standards following the bombing frenzy.

It marks “the most significant humanitarian development for ORT in Ukraine since the start of the conflict in February,” according to a spokesman.

“The evacuations were very difficult as in addition to students and teachers, family members evacuated included elderly grandparents and babies,” said the head of ORT Ukraine, Mila Finkelshtein.

“The trip from Zaporizhzhia took almost 20 hours by bus. We have given people the chance to sleep at night, to study, to work.”

The charity said missile attacks had been “intensifying in recent weeks”, with “educational institutions across Ukraine forced to either close or switch to online learning”. Most ORT schools in the country are currently studying remotely.

“As the situation worsens, communication with ORT colleagues in Ukraine has become more difficult,” the charity said. “The winter is likely to be a long, challenging time for them with huge uncertainties around most aspects of daily life, with the most critical being sufficient and reliable electricity and heating.”

ORT said it evacuated “students, teachers, and their families from some of the worst-affected areas”, with 153 people from Zaporizhzhia and Odesa found new accommodation in Truskavets, a town close to Lviv and the Polish border.

Zaporizhzhia, where most of the recent ORT evacuees live, is just 11 miles from the front-line. Other Jewish families declined the evacuation offer, typically because one or more family member was a medic and so needed for the war effort.