Bombing in Ukraine damages Odesa Jewish school, orphanage

A wave of overnight bombardments in southern Ukraine destroyed a Jewish school and damaged a nearby orphanage housing more than 100 children, community leaders say.

The Chabad-run “Or Avner” school in the Black Sea port city of Odesa has been rendered unusable after a direct strike amid ongoing fighting between Russia and Ukraine. The nearby Jewish orphanage, part of the “Mishpacha Ukraine” network and home to 124 children, has also been damaged, with no injuries reported.

“We had barely managed to close the door when the massive explosion hit. It shook the entire street,” the institution’s head, Rabbi Avraham Wolff, tells the Chabad.org website.

Following the incident, high school students will temporarily study alongside younger pupils in makeshift classrooms, corridors and shelters, says Wolff’s wife, Chaya, who oversees Chabad’s local school network.

“It’s difficult, but we will adapt,” she says.

Rabbi Wolff says the network, which provides education, welfare services and refugee assistance, has continued functioning throughout the war.

“We have rebuilt before,” he says. “We will rebuild again.”

Last night, Odessa came under heavy Russian attack. Among the targets was the Chabad Or Avner Jewish school, which sustained serious damage and is now unfit for use. For many years, Jewish children—including orphans and refugees from various regions of Ukraine—had studied there… pic.twitter.com/6d3plWUleH

— Chief Rabbi Of Ukraine Moshe Azman (@RabbiUkraine) April 30, 2026