An Israeli mother and her 6‑year‑old daughter were seriously injured Wednesday, about two weeks before Rosh Hashanah, when their car overturned in Uman. The family of four children were in Ukraine to attend the pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.
According to initial reports, one of the daughters, age 6, was severely injured. The family was evacuated to a nearby hospital. The accident occurred just two weeks before the holiday, as tens of thousands of Breslov Hasidim are expected to arrive in the city.
A local United Hatzalah emergency team was dispatched to the scene and provided life-saving medical assistance. Meanwhile, Uman’s United Hatzalah branch has bolstered its presence ahead of Rosh Hashanah, maintaining a base of volunteers, ambulances and a clinic throughout the year.
At the same time, plans for transporting thousands of Israeli pilgrims, about 60,000 of them, to Uman have run into difficulties.
An agreement with Moldova to operate roughly 50 charter flights to Chișinău collapsed earlier this week after Moldova imposed new conditions. Those flights were expected to serve as the closest gateway to Uman, and the collapse of the deal presents a major logistical setback.
A senior Breslov community official involved in negotiations warned that “this demand for excessive payments from Moldova breeds extortion and could spark similar crises with other countries.”
He added that efforts are now underway to shift flights to other neighboring countries, a move that has created considerable uncertainty and concern among pilgrims.
Normally, between 140 and 150 flights travel to Uman each year. This year, amid uncertainty and the need to secure rights for some charter flights as scheduled services, only about 115 flights were originally planned, and likely only 100 will take place. Many will operate via neighboring nations, since Ukraine remains at war.
Previously, during an emergency budget meeting attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shas Chair Aryeh Deri, five ministries were tapped to contribute to a NIS 10 million fund aimed at meeting Moldova’s infrastructure and security demands for the flights.
Flight distribution is expected to be spread across several airports in neighboring countries: Iași: 25 flights; Tulcea: 24 flights; Bucharest: 18 flights; Rzeszów: 17 flights; Suceava: 5 flights; Bacău: 3 flights; Constanța: 6 flights.
Additionally, some pilgrims will travel via regular commercial flights to Chișinău. Despite the breakdown of the Moldova agreement, approximately 10,000 pilgrims are still expected to pass through Moldova on scheduled flights, with another 10,000 likely to travel overland through Moldova from Romania into Ukraine.