Thousands of Orthodox Jewish pilgrims have arrived in the Ukrainian city of Uman to mark the annual Rosh Hashanah religious festival despite Russia’s ongoing invasion, the country’s leading Jewish group said on Tuesday.
Every year, pilgrims from Israel and other countries travel to Uman — the birthplace of the Orthodox Hassidic movement — to celebrate the holiday that marks Jewish New Year.
Uman lies in central Ukraine, relatively far from the front line but has been targeted by attacks — including deadly strikes — since Moscow’s offensive began in February 2022.
The pilgrims — overwhelmingly men and boys — have come to Ukraine throughout Moscow’s invasion, despite requests by Ukraine not to do so for security reasons.
“More than 14,000 pilgrims have arrived in Uman,” Ukraine’s main Jewish organisation, the United Jewish Community of Ukraine, said on social media.
It published a video of hundreds of male pilgrims dancing and celebrating to loud music in the centre of the city.
“Every pilgrim entering the city is checked by law enforcement officers at special checkpoints,” it added.
Every year since the war began, the Ukrainian authorities have asked the pilgrims not to congregate on Uman, pointing out that their gatherings violate the war-time restrictions that Ukrainians have to follow.
Uman has been a site of pilgrimage for over 200 years, with participants celebrating the life of Hasidic leader Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who was buried in the city.
In April last year, a Russian missile strike on an apartment block in the city killed 23 people.
Rosh Hashanah coincides this year with an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon, days after it launched air strikes on the country’s capital, Beirut.
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