- July 11, 2026
- 5:50 pm
- Ukraine
Israeli ultra-religious media reported an unusual phenomenon on the Ukrainian front: more and more Jewish servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who are on the front line, are turning to rabbis with a request to perform a brit milah for them.
According to these publications, in recent weeks, it is already about dozens of soldiers. They explain their choice by the desire to return to Jewish roots, join the tradition, and find spiritual support in the conditions of war, where every day could be the last.
One of the articles was published under the headline “Awakening in Ukraine: ‘At least we will die as Jews’”. Behind this harsh phrase lies not only the fear of death but also the desire to preserve their identity even on the front line — where Jewish soldiers, together with the entire Ukrainian people, defend the country from Russian occupiers.
A Jewish serviceman of Ukraine, who faces death daily on the front line, decided to undergo a brit milah to confirm his belonging to the Jewish people and connection with tradition.
After the ceremony, he refused to stay for rest and immediately returned to his unit. His comrades were waiting for him on the front line, where Russian troops continue to attack Ukrainian cities and positions of the Defense Forces.
The story of a soldier named Grigory became known in early July 2026. Israeli religious media reported that after it, several more Jewish servicemen turned to representatives of the Jewish community with a request to organize a brit milah for them.
A decision made amidst death
Grigory P. — a man about 45 years old, serving on the northern section of the front between Sumy and Kharkiv.
His work is related to one of the most difficult aspects of the war. Together with other servicemen, he evacuates the bodies and remains of fallen Ukrainian defenders so that they can be identified and handed over to families for proper burial.
Such operations take place under constant threat of Russian shelling, drone strikes, and mines. According to Grigory, he and his comrades have to transport charred bodies and collect the remains of people who died on the battlefield.
Daily confrontation with death made the serviceman think about the meaning of his own life and who he wants to remain even at the last moment.
“If I am destined to die, I want to die a Jew,” — Israeli sources convey his words.
The decision to undergo a brit milah for him was not a formality or a symbolic gesture. Grigory perceived the ceremony as a confirmation of his covenant with God and a return to Jewish roots, which he knew before but truly comprehended during the war.
A dangerous road to Sumy
About a month and a half ago, the serviceman contacted the rabbi of Sumy, the Chabad emissary Yechiel Shlomo ha-Levi Levitan, and asked to organize the ceremony as soon as possible.
At this time, a mohel, Rabbi Yoel Gelber, was traveling through the Jewish communities of Ukraine. He was performing brit milah in Chabad houses and agreed to go to Sumy, despite the city’s proximity to the combat zone and regular Russian strikes.
The road turned out to be difficult. Many roads in the front-line areas are damaged by heavy military equipment, shelling, and harsh winters, and their repair is often impossible due to the constant threat of new attacks.
About a hundred kilometers from Sumy, near the city of Lokhvytsia in the Poltava region, the driver heard reports of advancing Russian units and heavy shelling. Fearing for his life, he refused to continue the trip.
After a few hours, another driver was found. Rabbi Yoel Gelber reached the central synagogue of Sumy, where the ceremony took place.
Details of this story were published on July 8 by “Ha-Mechadesh” — an Israeli religious news publication primarily aimed at the Haredi audience. This source provides the most complete description of the trip, Grigory’s service, and subsequent appeals from servicemen.
At the meal after the brit milah, Grigory told those gathered about his work. According to the publication, his words deeply moved the participants of the ceremony.
However, the serviceman did not intend to stay long in the synagogue. Immediately after the ceremony, he announced that he was returning to the front. The rabbi offered him to rest and recover, but Grigory refused: his comrades were waiting for him.
Six more appeals after Grigory’s story
The story of the brit milah began to spread among Jewish servicemen in Ukraine. Soon, six more soldiers approached community representatives, also wishing to undergo the ceremony.
Their reasons varied. For some, it was a return to tradition and Jewish identity. Others hoped that fulfilling the commandment would provide them with spiritual protection and help them survive the war.
After this, Rabbi Yoel Gelber and the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine began preparing a joint program to assist servicemen wishing to undergo a brit milah.
The work with Jewish soldiers on the front is coordinated on behalf of the Federation by Yakov Sinyakov. He visits military units and delivers long-lasting food, hygiene products, siddurs, Tehillim books, and literature about Judaism in Ukrainian to the servicemen.
During the next trips, community representatives intend to tell servicemen Grigory’s story and discuss the possibility of organizing ceremonies for soldiers whom the command can release from units for a short time.
Federation representatives expressed hope that the servicemen would survive, return to their families, and be able to raise children in a peaceful country.
The next day, July 9, 2026, Grigory’s story was also published by Emess — an Israeli religious media resource and radio platform covering public life, news, and events of the Jewish world. Its publication is a more concise retelling of the story and also refers to materials from the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine.
The Jewish community together with all of Ukraine
Grigory’s story is important not only as a tale of personal return to faith.
It shows the place of the Jewish community in modern Ukraine. Ukrainian Jews do not watch the war from the sidelines: they serve in the Defense Forces, work as military medics and volunteers, save the wounded, evacuate the dead, provide units with necessary things, and help civilian residents.
Jewish communities turned synagogues and community centers into humanitarian headquarters, took in refugees, evacuated families from combat areas, and delivered aid where Russian strikes continued.
Some defend the country with weapons in hand.
Some collect food, medicine, and military equipment.
Rabbis support servicemen, help the families of the fallen, and ensure that fallen Jewish defenders of Ukraine are buried according to tradition.
The Jewish community of Ukraine goes through this war together with the entire Ukrainian people. It bears the same losses, lives under the same air raids, and opposes the same Russian occupiers.
The participation of Jews in the defense of Ukraine also refutes Russian propaganda about the supposedly necessary ‘denazification’. Ukrainian Jewish leaders have repeatedly spoken out against the invasion and called the Kremlin’s attempts to cover aggression with the fight against Nazism a lie and political manipulation.
As noted by NANovosti — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency, the story of Ukrainian Jews during the full-scale war is not only a story of evacuation and humanitarian aid. It is also a story of resistance, military service, losses, and the conscious choice to defend the country of which they are citizens.
Between faith and responsibility
Grigory’s story combines two decisions that he does not oppose to each other.
The first is to remain a Jew and confirm this connection through one of the most important commandments of Judaism. The second is to return to his comrades and continue to fulfill his military duty.
That is why his act received such a response. In conditions where the Russian war daily confronts a person with the possibility of death, turning to tradition becomes not an escape from reality, but a way to preserve one’s own name, memory, and dignity.
At the same time, Israeli media reports must be conveyed accurately. The headline of ‘Ha-Mechadesh’ speaks of dozens of servicemen wishing to undergo a brit milah, but the text details one performed ceremony and appeals from six more soldiers. The names of their units and full names are not disclosed, which is understandable due to security requirements.
Therefore, it is more correct to speak not of a massive series of already held ceremonies, but of a growing interest among Jewish servicemen and the preparation of new ceremonies.
For NANovosti — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency, another meaning is especially important in this story. Jewish life in Ukraine has not disappeared under Russian missiles and drones. It continues in synagogues, humanitarian centers, military units, and on the roads where rabbis and volunteers travel to front-line cities.
Grigory returned to the front immediately after the brit milah because his comrades were waiting for him there.
In this act, there is no contradiction between Jewish and Ukrainian identity. On the contrary, both of them merged in the personal choice of a person who wants to remain a Jew and at the same time defends Ukraine from Russian occupiers.