Ukraine heightens security in Uman as thousands stream in for Rosh Hashanah

Ukrainian authorities set up checkpoints around city, say 3,000 Jewish worshipers already there despite warnings against traveling to country

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine has increased security in the city of Uman as Jewish pilgrims arrived there to mark a religious holiday, despite warnings by Israel and others not to travel to the war-torn country.

Thousands of Orthodox Jews come to Uman from Israel and elsewhere every year to celebrate the Rosh Hashanah holiday in the central Ukrainian city, one of the birthplaces of the Hasidic movement.

“A special regime of entry and exit and movement around the city has been introduced,” said Igor Taburets, the head of the Cherkasy region, where Uman is located.

He said nine checkpoints have been set up around the city, some 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Kyiv, to control the flow of people.

“Despite warnings from diplomatic services and the regional administration, we have already had more than 3,000 pilgrims,” Taburets said.

Kyiv has urged pilgrims not to travel to Uman since the Russian invasion last year.

The city has been targeted by Moscow. In April, a Russian strike on an apartment building killed more than 20 civilians.

Following a Russian attack, first responders remove rubble at a residential building in Uman, central Ukraine, April 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Taburets said the city’s curfew — which runs from midnight to 4 a.m. local time — will not be canceled for the holiday which starts on Friday evening.

“They (the pilgrims) are given handbooks with all these things upon arrival,” he said.

Uman has been a pilgrimage site for around 200 years.

It is the birthplace of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, one of the founders of the Jewish Hasidic movement.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked anger among ultra-Orthodox government allies when he urged Israelis not to travel to the city, saying that “God has not always protected us, not on European soil and not on Ukrainian soil,” referring to the Holocaust and centuries of persecution.

“Be silent when you blame the God of Israel for your failures and crimes,” snapped United Torah Judaism MK Yisrael Eichler. “If it weren’t for those who keep the Torah, Israel would have long ago been erased from the map of the Middle East.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.