Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial on Friday morning to commemorate the 82nd anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre in which over 33,000 Jewish men, women, and children were murdered.
Zelensky took part in a small memorial ceremony organized by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine (FJCU). There were exactly ten people at the ceremony, enough for a minyan (a quorum required for certain prayers), including rabbis and Chabad representatives in Ukraine.
The ceremony was led by the deputy chairman of the federation, Rabbi Raphael Rothman, who recited the El Maleh Rahamim (memorial) prayer and Kaddish. Rabbis from Kyiv, Berdychiv, Bila Tserkva, Cherkasy also took part in the ceremony.
Zelensky, who is Jewish, stated that Judaism in Ukraine is "flourishing and thriving today without any discrimination" and congratulated the Jewish community on the occasion of the Sukkot holiday which begins on Friday night.
Raphael told Zelensky that the Jews of Ukraine will celebrate Sukkot with pride in their Judaism and without fear. The deputy chairman of the FJCU added that the federation sent special holiday packages to 52,000 households in 180 cities and towns across Ukraine.
The Jewish Relief Network Ukraine (JRNU) has also provided special deliveries of the Four Species to Ukrainian Jews across the country.
Last year, Zelensky also took part in a ceremony commemorating the 81st anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre.
Interfaith prayer service to be held at Babyn Yar on anniversary
Later on Friday, the Ukrainian World Congress, Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, and Babyn Yar National Historical and Memorial Reserve will hold an interfaith prayer service at Babyn Yar.
Ruslan Stefanchuk, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, commemorated the anniversary of the massacre in a Facebook post on Friday, writing that "All these years, the world remembered the terrible page of history with the understanding that evil will never be reborn again. Unfortunately, today we are witnessing how Russian terrorists resort to mass shootings, mass tortures and mass burials."
"Today we honor the memory of thousands of innocent victims and call on the world community to be united: united in opposition to evil and consolidated in prosecution for all crimes committed."