Russian rockets strike Jewish cemetery in Ukraine, culture minister says

A Ukrainian minister has accused Russian forces of bombing a Jewish cemetery in the latest round of fighting to the northeast of Ukraine.

Culture and Information Policy Minister Oleksander Tkachenko said the cemetery at Glukov, in the Shostka district near the city of Sumy, had been struck by rocket fire on Sunday.

Posting pictures on Facebook of what appeared to be a graveyard blanketed in smoke, he said victims of a 1918 pogrom against Jews were buried at the site.

“The Russians had just hit a Jewish cemetery in Glukhov with a rocket,” he wrote.

“This is yet another direct proof that there is nothing sacred about Russia at all, and that they are completely indistinguishable from the fascists who exterminated Jews 80 years ago.”

Tkachenko said it was proof of Russia’s “meagre nature”.

He added that it was a “miracle” that the tombs of two Jewish sages — Menachem Nohim David Geselyov and Israel Dov Ber Nohimov Shumyatsky — had not been damaged in the shelling.

It was not immediately clear what damage had occurred to the cemetery.

The strike was corroborated by Reuven Asman, one of Ukraine’s chief rabbis, according to Jerusalem Post.

Jewish News has attempted to contact local authorities and regional experts to confirm the extent of any damage.