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Ukraine
Few countries over the last 100 years can match Ukraine’s achievements in art, music, literature, and science; fewer still have suffered as much violence, war, and tragedy. Before it had a Jewish president and became a battlefield for the future of freedom and democracy, Ukraine occupied a central place in Jewish history for centuries—and still does today. As it fights a war for survival, Ukraine remains one of the most important countries for Jews, Americans, the West, and the world.
Israel & The Middle East section icon
The New Ukrainian Aliyah

Israel’s last wave of Ukrainian and Russian Jews is preparing to absorb the next one

byMatti Friedman
News section icon
Vladimir Putin, Tyrant

The Russian leader’s actions express essential and unalterable truths about human nature, which we ignore at our peril

byWaller R. Newell
Arts & Letters section icon
In the Vernadsky Library

Newly digitized recordings offer an unprecedented glimpse of the Ukrainian-Jewish past

byJake Marmer

All Ukraine stories

Destroyed apartment building and daycare, Kharkiv
Destroyed apartment building and daycare, Kharkiv
A man shows his destroyed house in Vilkhivka, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 9, 2022
A man shows his destroyed house in Vilkhivka, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 9, 2022
The Chabad Synagogue in Odessa, Ukraine, on March 9, 2022
The Chabad Synagogue in Odessa, Ukraine, on March 9, 2022
Ruins of Borodyanka
Ruins of Borodyanka
From left: Roman Abramovich, Moshe Kantor, Mikhail Fridman, and Petr Aven
From left: Roman Abramovich, Moshe Kantor, Mikhail Fridman, and Petr Aven
Dmitrii Sorokin, at left, gives a speech as people gather for a rally in support of Ukraine on the Brighton Beach Boardwalk in Brooklyn on March 6, 2022. Hundreds of people assembled in this Russian American neighborhood to show support for Ukraine as the Russian invasion continues.
Dmitrii Sorokin, at left, gives a speech as people gather for a rally in support of Ukraine on the Brighton Beach Boardwalk in Brooklyn on March 6, 2022. Hundreds of people assembled in this Russian American neighborhood to show support for Ukraine as the Russian invasion continues.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky connects via live video link on a screen during the antiwar demonstration 'Cities stand with Ukraine' in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence, Italy, on March 12, 2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky connects via live video link on a screen during the antiwar demonstration 'Cities stand with Ukraine' in Piazza Santa Croce in Florence, Italy, on March 12, 2022
An express train stands at Finland Station in St. Petersburg, Russia, on March 8, 2022, before departing for Helsinki. Finnish Railways has expanded its train service from St. Petersburg to Helsinki to accommodate the increasing number of Russians leaving their country.
An express train stands at Finland Station in St. Petersburg, Russia, on March 8, 2022, before departing for Helsinki. Finnish Railways has expanded its train service from St. Petersburg to Helsinki to accommodate the increasing number of Russians leaving their country.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during an extraordinary session of the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, on Feb. 27, 2022, in Berlin
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during an extraordinary session of the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, on Feb. 27, 2022, in Berlin
Vitaly, 52, says he is of Russian origin and fought in the Russian army during the first Chechen war, but today fights alongside Ukrainian soldiers in Pisky, Ukraine. Originally from Donetsk, Vitaly says he saw his city invaded and people massacred.
Vitaly, 52, says he is of Russian origin and fought in the Russian army during the first Chechen war, but today fights alongside Ukrainian soldiers in Pisky, Ukraine. Originally from Donetsk, Vitaly says he saw his city invaded and people massacred.
The author with Pushkin's statue in Odessa, 2008
The author with Pushkin's statue in Odessa, 2008
This 1921 photograph shows three starving Jewish refugees in Rowne, Poland, (present-day Rovno or Rivne, Ukraine). In addition to the widespread displacement, famine, disease, and economic hardship that existed in the aftermath of World War I, the Jewish populations of Eastern Europe underwent new suffering as a result of the Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war. Rowne, a commercial hub with a large Jewish population, was among the towns visited by the first team of field representatives sent to Poland by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). Such teams included social workers, physicians, and teachers. The JDC was founded by American Jews in New York City in 1914 to provide wartime relief to Jewish communities.
This 1921 photograph shows three starving Jewish refugees in Rowne, Poland, (present-day Rovno or Rivne, Ukraine). In addition to the widespread displacement, famine, disease, and economic hardship that existed in the aftermath of World War I, the Jewish populations of Eastern Europe underwent new suffering as a result of the Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war. Rowne, a commercial hub with a large Jewish population, was among the towns visited by the first team of field representatives sent to Poland by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). Such teams included social workers, physicians, and teachers. The JDC was founded by American Jews in New York City in 1914 to provide wartime relief to Jewish communities.