Jewish school in Kyiv is damaged by Russian drone strike

A Jewish school in Kyiv after it was damaged by a Russian drone strike on October 30, 2024. (Courtesy)

A Jewish school in Kyiv is damaged by a Russian drone strike.

No one at the school is injured in the attack, but several were injured in a nearby building.

The drone hit near the Perlina Chabad school in the early hours of the morning.

“The school’s reinforced windows, equipped with protective film, prevented further harm to the interior of the structure. Nonetheless, classrooms, the school shuttle, and the student lounge suffered extensive damage,” said a statement put out by the Jewish Relief Network Ukraine.

Rabbi Yonatan Markovitch and Rebbetzin Elka Ina Markovitch toured the shcool with police and other officials.

“We experienced a tremendous miracle that students were not in the building at the time of the explosion. The light of Torah and Jewish education in Kyiv will not be dimmed,” says Markovitch, one of the two claimants to the title of Kyiv’s chief rabbi. “Just as the school has remained operational throughout the war, so too will we continue to nurture our children’s souls, even in these challenging times.”

Israeli Ambassador Michael Brodsky tells The Times of Israel that he has spoken with Markovitch and offered to help renovate the school. He cannot say whether the drone was of Iranian origin.

“This isn’t the first time that Russian missiles and drones hit Jewish sites,” said Moshe Azman, Chief Rabbi of Kyiv’s Brodsky Synagogue. He pointed at strikes that damaged the Babi Yar memorial site, a yeshiva, and Jewish cemeteries.