“We stay here to help communities” – the rabbi’s house in Kryvyi Rih was hit by a Russian strike: a direct hit on the Jewish community and miraculous salvation

In Kryvyi Rih on the evening of January 29, 2026, the home of the city’s chief rabbi and Chabad emissary Liron Ederi was heavily damaged by shelling. There were no fatalities. A security guard at the site sustained a minor shrapnel wound to the arm, which is currently being described as the main “bad thing that wasn’t fatal.”

The destruction affected more than just a corner or a “part of the wall.” According to the rabbi, the blast wave blew out windows and doors, damaged the parking lot, and affected community premises. He specifically mentioned the mikvah, which the community had recently finished repairing — and which was also damaged.

“The entire front part of the house was blown up. Windows, doors, parking lot, and the mikvah, which we just finished repairing — everything was damaged.”

The rabbi and his family were not at home at the time of the strike. This is the rare coincidence that literally decides fate. Ederi said he heard the explosions almost immediately: he was out of town and talking on the phone with a community employee who was near the strike location.

“During the shelling, I was outside the city, but I heard the explosions in real-time. I was in the middle of a conversation with the secretary of the Chabad House, who was near the strike location. I heard the explosions over the phone — it was terrible.”

According to preliminary reports, the destruction was caused by a Russian drone that fell near the building. Kryvyi Rih is a major city in Ukraine and the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky; according to community estimates, thousands of Jews live in the city, and the community continues to operate despite the war and winter.

The incident was reported by the Israeli religious news site emess.co.il (article by journalist Avi Yaakov). Emess (MS) positions itself as a major Israeli news and media site for the ultra-Orthodox audience (Haredim) and explicitly states that it is part of the media group “Kol Chai”.

NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency emphasizes: such strikes do not necessarily mean “anti-Semitism as a motive.”

More often, it’s about something else — Russian aggressors strike cities indiscriminately, and they don’t care who lives there: Jews of Ukraine, Ukrainian-speaking families, Russian-speaking residents, the elderly, children. This is where the brutality of the regime in Russia manifests — in cold indifference to civilians and the habit of turning ordinary life into a target.

However, the alarming background remains. Ukrainian communities speak of an increase in cases where Jewish life objects are damaged: rabbi’s homes, synagogues, community centers, cemeteries. Sometimes it looks like a coincidence of war, sometimes — like an unpleasant pattern that is hard to “explain with one missile.”

A representative of the Kryvyi Rih city authority commented on the publication with the most direct language:

“Putin continues to strike peaceful people — including Jewish communities. We have seen serious destruction in Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kherson, and other cities.”

In winter, this becomes even harsher at the household level. When energy is attacked, people are left without light, heating, and water — and then the war ceases to be a “report,” it becomes the temperature in the apartment and how quickly the house cools down. Ederi speaks not in slogans but in the reality he sees every day:

“People are freezing from the cold due to targeted attacks on energy and power facilities. This is a very hard and difficult winter, and we need a lot of mercy from Heaven — but we will not be broken. I, along with my brothers, the Rebbe’s emissaries throughout Ukraine, remain here to help communities.”

The Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine supported the rabbi and reminded the world of the hundreds of thousands of Jews in the country and the families of Chabad emissaries who remain under shelling, sometimes without basic conditions.

“We express support for Rabbi Adri, who acts with remarkable dedication. It is important that the world does not forget about the hundreds of thousands of Jews living here and the hundreds of families of Chabad emissaries who remain under shelling, often without electricity and water. Despite the suffering, we will continue to fulfill our mission and strengthen it in the hope of complete redemption.”

A separate question is how Israel reacts to such episodes. In Israeli public logic, there is a constant formula that Israel is a home and responsibility for Jews worldwide. Therefore, the expectation from official Jerusalem is simple for many: even if diplomacy requires caution, words can and should be found at least for a clear human signal — outrage and support when rabbi’s homes, mikvahs, and community infrastructure in Ukraine are hit by Russian strikes.

Reference: Who is Liron Ederi (Kryvyi Rih)

Liron Ederi is the chief rabbi of Kryvyi Rih.

He was born on 7 Iyar 5765 (April 18, 1975) in Jerusalem.

Education:
• religious school (9 grades)
• Chabad Yeshiva Ketana, Lod — 3 years
• Chabad Yeshiva Gedola, Kfar Chabad — 3 years
• Main Chabad Yeshiva, New York — 2 years

Upon graduation, he received a rabbi’s diploma.

He served 3 years in the Israeli army. After completing his service in 2001, he came to Ukraine, to Dnipropetrovsk, where he engaged in religious activities for a year and prepared to move to Kryvyi Rih.

Since 2002 — chief rabbi of Kryvyi Rih.

Family: married, four children. Wife — Zegava Ederi, children — Chaya-Mushka, Chana, Menachem Mendel, and Yosef Yitzchak.

Conclusion

The strike on the rabbi’s house in Kryvyi Rih is not a story “about damaged walls.” It is an indicator of how the Russian war blurs any boundaries: not only infrastructure and residential areas are under fire, but also religious life, community centers, people who hold entire communities in place.

And the hardest part of such episodes is the feeling that the aggressor truly doesn’t care who is on the other side of the wall. Today it’s the rabbi’s house and mikvah, tomorrow — a school, an entrance, a hospital. Therefore, public reaction and support — especially from Israel, which on a principled level calls itself a home for all Jews — is perceived not as “politics,” but as a matter of moral responsibility and basic solidarity.