During a large-scale Russian attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the home of Rabbi Zevulun (Zelig) Brez, head of the Jewish community and a Chabad emissary in the city, was hit. One of the rabbi’s children was lightly injured by glass shrapnel, received initial medical treatment at the scene and is in good condition.
A drone exploded near the home of a Chabad emissary in Dnipro
The damage occurred when a suicide drone struck an open area very close to the residential building. The force of the blast, along with fragments from air defense interceptions in the area, caused significant damage to the family’s home. Windows were completely shattered, and shards penetrated the rooms.
Images from the scene show a small crater near the building, smoke rising from the ground, and holes torn by shrapnel in the windows. Inside the home, a windowsill is covered with a thick layer of shattered glass, flowerpots are overturned, and a prayer book lies among the fragments.
“It was a great miracle that the injury ended so lightly,” a member of the Jewish community said. “The blast was enormous, the entire house shook. Shrapnel and interception debris struck the building directly. The child was injured by glass, but his life was saved.”
Brez is considered one of the central figures in Dnipro and operates under the city’s chief rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetsky. As head of the Jewish community, he runs one of the largest Jewish centers in the world, the Menorah Center. Since the outbreak of the war, Brez has worked continuously on behalf of thousands of Jewish refugees who arrived in the city from combat zones in eastern Ukraine, operating a wide-ranging humanitarian aid network together with Chabad’s JRNU network in the country.
Dnipro, which serves as a key logistical and strategic hub for Ukraine, has come under frequent bombardment in recent weeks. Recently, several fatalities and dozens of injuries were reported following direct strikes on residential buildings and infrastructure. Despite the ongoing danger, Chabad emissaries in the city, including Brez, continue to remain in place and maintain community life and Jewish institutions under fire.