A historic synagogue in Odessa, Ukraine, was significantly damaged by a Russian drone strike on August 4.
The Monday evening strike ignited a large fire in the Nachlas Eliezer Synagogue in Odessa’s Peresyp district. Established in 1898, the synagogue served the local Jewish community until its closure under Soviet rule in the 1920s. The building partial collapsed in 1992. No injuries related to the drone strike were reported.
“This sacred building, constructed at the end of the 19th century, served as a place of prayer, hope, and spiritual strength for the Jewish community of Odesa,” the chief rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Azman wrote in a post on X, with pictures of the ravaged structure.
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In the same post, Azman says he spoke with the chief rabbi of Odesa, Avraham Wolff, who confirmed the resulting damage, adding, “We are here, and we are staying here — and we will continue our work, no matter what.”
This is the latest in a string of reported damage to symbols of Ukraine’s Jewish community, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. It follows respective strikes on an apartment building housing a rabbi and his family, and a car that another rabbi was traveling in with his family.
Nearly three-and-a-half years into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, much of the country bears wounds from air and ground assaults, with recent calls for UNESCO to further protect heritage sites, including the Odessa Literary Museum.