A memorial to Holocaust victims was destroyed by a Russian missile strike on a town in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, Jewish community officials said.
The memorial, built in 2021 by the United Jewish Community of Ukraine in cooperation with local authorities, was hit during an attack on the town of Bilopillia. The strike also damaged a historic building that once served as part of the town’s former Jewish ghetto.
Ukrainian media reported that four Russian missiles were fired at Bilopillia during the attack. A 35-year-old local resident was killed and 11 others were wounded, authorities said.
Bilopillia is a historic town in the Sumy region near the Russian border, with a population of about 2,000 people.
Local officials said the strike caused widespread destruction. Residential buildings and critical infrastructure were damaged, including public buildings and multi-story apartment blocks, the mayor of the nearby city of Sumy said. A damaged gas pipeline left hundreds of residents without gas amid freezing temperatures.
Vitaly Kamuzin, chairman of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine, expressed dismay over the destruction of the memorial.
“This town is right on the border and is unique in its sensitivity to preserving the memory of the Jewish community that was destroyed in the Holocaust,” Kamuzin said. He noted that the memorial was established after Bilopillia Mayor Yuriy Zarko, a trained historian, personally approached him in 2021 to mark the site of the old Jewish cemetery and erect a monument near the former ghetto building.