Zelensky Marks 85th Anniversary of Babi Yar Massacre, Links Past Atrocities to Current Russian Aggression

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky participated in the annual commemoration ceremony for the Babi Yar massacre, where tens of thousands of Jews were murdered by Nazi forces and collaborators on September 29-30, 1941. The ceremony, held near Kyiv, took place under heavy security, including air defense systems and snipers, due to concerns of Russian drone attacks targeting the president.

The heightened security measures come amid an escalation of Russian attacks on Kyiv in recent weeks, which have included missile and drone strikes causing numerous casualties. Among the victims was Daniel Omansky, an Israeli teenager killed by a Russian drone strike on his Kyiv home last Friday. As Zelensky arrived at the ceremony, he received an update on the arrangements for Omansky's repatriation to Israel. His coffin is expected to depart from Chisinau to Israel on Tuesday and will be interred in central Israel at his family's request.

In his address, Zelensky stated, "We must remember the terrible things that happened here many years ago, and now they are happening again, this time at the hands of the Russians." Representatives from approximately 50 countries attended, including the new Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine, Roey Rosenblit, and ambassadors from all G7 nations. Rabbis and Chabad emissaries in Ukraine also participated.

Zelensky thanked the ambassadors and the international community for their "assistance in the fight against the terrible things that the Russians are doing to us, to humanity, and to civilization." The ceremony was organized by the Ukrainian President's Office, the Babi Yar Memorial Center, and the Federation of Jewish Communities in Ukraine. Several prominent rabbis, including Rabbi Moshe Asman and Rabbi Jonathan Markovitch, delivered prayers and readings.

For Rabbi Deborah Leah Levanharz, a Chabad emissary in Kyiv, the event held personal significance as her great-grandmother, Sonia Pozner, was among the estimated 33,771 Jews murdered at Babi Yar. Pozner, who lived in Romny in the Sumy region, was brought to Kyiv and subsequently to Babi Yar, where she was killed in her fifties. Levanharz emphasized that continuing Jewish life in Kyiv is the most meaningful form of remembrance, echoing the Lubavitcher Rebbe's sentiment to "seat another Jew at the table" rather than leave an empty one.