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Under fire: Chief Rabbi of Ukraine dives to ground amidst Russian artillery attack
Moshe Reuven Azman, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, was filming a social media update in the flooded city of Kherson when Russian forces struck
The Chief Rabbi of Ukraine came under fire whilst filming a social media update on his evacuation mission in the eastern city of Kherson.
Moshe Reuven Azman was speaking about rescue efforts to help victims of the recent attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (HPP), which caused devastating flooding across an estimated 8, 600 square kilometers, when Russian shells struck.
“I’m in Kherson, we were on our way to get those people out – and we survived miraculously,” he says.
Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi Moshe Asman came under fire in #Kherson pic.twitter.com/1Fb8sNmsGd
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) June 8, 2023
A shout of “Down!” is heard during the attack, people are seeing diving for cover and then running for their lives.
The video footage sees him diving to the ground.
In a social media post today on Twitter, he says Russia continues to target rescuers:
This is the moment an artillery shell landed a few meters away from us
Thank G-d for the water or I might not be here
This isn’t the first time I’ve been under fire, but never in water and never so close
Russia continues to target rescuers & maybe even me since the first shell… pic.twitter.com/LOzjqsxpTm
— Chief Rabbi Of Ukraine Moshe Azman (@RabbiUkraine) June 9, 2023
The majority of Kherson’s Jewish population fled when Russia invaded Ukraine; it’s thought that the blowing up of the dam will lead the remaining Jews to follow.
The Jewish Telegraph Agency reports that an estimated 20 Jewish families have been directly affected by the flooding so far, and they are taking shelter in Jewish institutions. Kherson’s synagogue has not flooded because it sits at a high elevation, 20 meters, or 65 feet, above sea level.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine are accepting blame for the collapse of the dam.
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