Holocaust Historian Boris Zverko Injured in Russian Missile Attack on Kyiv

Boris Zverko, a 90-year-old Jewish-Ukrainian Holocaust historian and chairman of the All-Ukrainian Association of Jews who survived Nazi ghettos and concentration camps, was wounded this week during a Russian missile strike on Kyiv. A Russian Zircon hypersonic missile hit the courtyard of the residential building where Zverko lives, causing shrapnel injuries from which he miraculously survived. The exact details of his medical condition have not been disclosed.

Ukraine's Chief Rabbi Moshe Azman and the association of Jewish ghetto survivors highlighted the tragic symbolism of Zverko's injury, noting that a man who survived Nazi persecution as a child now faces life-threatening danger again due to the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine. Zverko is recognized as one of Ukraine's leading Holocaust researchers, having published over 230 books and articles and received numerous academic awards. During World War II, he survived the Shargorod ghetto with his family thanks to the Ukrainian Samborsky family who hid them.

The association also referenced other Holocaust survivors affected by the war, including Roman Schwartzman, who testified before the German Bundestag in January 2025 that his apartment was completely destroyed by a Russian missile. The organization emphasized that survivors who once overcame death during the Holocaust now endure nightly sheltering from missile attacks and daily struggles for survival, calling this one of the most tragic symbols of the current conflict.

The missile attack on Kyiv caused widespread damage across the city, with reports indicating at least 30 fatalities. Among the damaged sites were research institutions of the National Academy of Sciences, a hospital previously evacuated from Mariupol, logistics warehouses, energy infrastructure, and the city zoo.