A firebomber struck a Chabad synagogue in Ukraine late Monday night as Jews across Kryvyi Rih finished Passover celebrations.

“We fear this is a planned trend against Jewish communities,” said Rabbi Liron Edri, Chabad emissary and chief rabbi of Kryvyi Rih. “The vandalism was clearly targeted. There was nothing random about it. This was an act aimed at harming us as a Jewish community.”

Thankfully, reinforced glass barriers recently installed by Chabad World Assistance (CWA) prevented what could have been catastrophic damage to the synagogue. Just a week earlier, the community faced another antisemitic attack when perpetrators targeted a community vehicle with visible Jewish symbols by slashing its tires and covering it with paint. Ukrainian security forces have launched an investigation into both incidents.

Despite the rise of antisemitism in his community, Rabbi Edri remains resolute.

“We won’t let the fear stop us,” he said. “Light will dispel darkness, and I thank the police and government who immediately came to the synagogue and promised to conduct an investigation and arrest the perpetrators.”

Ukraine’s Jewish community, now numbering around 45,000, ranks as Europe’s fourth-largest. But those numbers tell a story of decline, as before the Soviet Union fell in 1991, nearly half a million Jews called Ukraine home. Many fled to Israel, America, and Europe after communism’s collapse. Russia’s illegal 2022 invasion of Ukraine continues to spark further Jewish emigration from the country.