A monument to the writer Sholom Aleichem in Kyiv has been vandalized with a swastika

On Sunday night, unidentified vandals desecrated the monument to the prominent Jewish writer Sholem Aleichem in central Kyiv, painting it with swastikas, according to a Facebook post by the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine and Kyiv, Moshe Reuven Azman.

This is the latest in a series of antisemitic incidents that have occurred in Ukraine in recent weeks. Notably, in September, vandals desecrated a monument to Jewish victims at the site of a mass execution in the village of Bohdanivka, Mykolaiv Oblast. The perpetrators painted a swastika on the monument and left a threatening note addressed to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, former Transport Minister Yevhen Chervonenko, and the Ukrainian Jewish Committee Director, Eduard Dolinsky.

Dr. Haim Ben-Yakov, Director General of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC), appealed to the Ukrainian authorities: "To our regret, we have recently witnessed a surge of antisemitic incidents in Ukraine. The country's law enforcement agencies must take all necessary measures to identify and prosecute those responsible. The desecration of monuments is an alarming symptom of a deeper societal issue that risks escalating further. Decisive and immediate action is required to prevent any future rise in antisemitism within the nation."

On November 27, Kyiv will host the inaugural Eurasian Jewry Summit, co-organized by the EAJC, bringing together hundreds of Jewish community leaders from across the region for the first time.

Photo courtesy of Rabbi Azman's Facebook page.