- January 15, 2026
- 4:32 pm
- Ukraine
On January 15, 2026, the Israeli publication The Jerusalem Post published (Eng.) a report by journalist Michael Starr about Jewish servicemen who continue to fight as part of the Ukrainian army, while “the attention of the world audience increasingly shifts to other crises” – original.
The main idea of the material is simple and harsh: even if the media agenda changes, Russia’s war against Ukraine has not stopped for a single season, and the Jews of Ukraine remain among those who “hold the line” since 2022, going through winter after winter.
Drone reconnaissance commander from Nikolaev: “fight for your country”
One of the key figures in the report is Moshe Bizsemov, the commander of a small group of reconnaissance drones. He has been serving in the Ukrainian army since 2018 and witnessed the phase of battles often associated in Ukraine with the war in Donbas after 2014. Bizsemov is a resident of Nikolaev, a father of two, and was supposed to complete his service in April 2022, shortly after the full-scale invasion began.
However, circumstances unfolded differently. At the moment when his unit came under attack, Bizsemov was in the process of being discharged. Many of his soldiers were captured in Mariupol, and as noted in the material, seven had not been released at the time of publication. He extended his contract and remained in service. When asked about his motivation, the answer is extremely short: “fight for your country.”
The report also highlights another detail: Bizsemov was wounded at the beginning of the war and had grounds to leave the service with an honorable discharge. Instead, he continued working specifically in drone reconnaissance — where the price of a mistake is measured not in statistics but in human lives on the ground.
BMP driver and “the man who stopped”: the story of Andre Chernecki
The second figure is Andre Chernecki, a driver of an armored vehicle (BMP). The text states that he has been serving since March 22 (the year is not specified in the material) and has gone through some of the bloodiest episodes of the war, including Bakhmut. Chernecki fought there twice, with one rotation, according to him, lasting seven months.
The strongest fragment of the report is an episode that Chernecki recounts as an illustration of a choice made “inside the war.” Returning from the Bakhmut direction and already about a kilometer from a safe area, he noticed a Ukrainian soldier trapped by debris in a destroyed building. According to protocol, the armored vehicle should not stop: the risk is too high for the crew and equipment. Chernecki stopped.
He ran out, bandaged the wound, and then effectively amputated the destroyed limb that was holding the soldier under the rubble, after which his team loaded the wounded onto the armored vehicle. The material emphasizes: by this act, he put himself and his people at risk, but he believed that otherwise, the soldier would have been “left behind,” and then almost certainly forgotten.
Chernecki speaks about his Jewish identity directly and without embellishment. He did not hide that he was Jewish and perceived it as part of his service: “if you represent a people — you must keep the bar higher.” He notes that he was wounded three times and explains why he continues to fight: so that no one can say that Jews do not fight.
Not everyone is on the front line — and this is also part of the truth
The Jerusalem Post text does not romanticize. It states directly: as among other citizens of Ukraine, among Jews, there were those who did not go to fight — who hid at home, fearing mobilization, or tried to avoid conscription. One of the Jewish leaders admits regret about this part of reality, but other community representatives emphasize: there are many servicemen, it’s just difficult to name the exact number.
The reason lies in the structure of the community and society. Some are actively involved in Jewish life and are visible, while others live outside community frameworks, and even people who usually “keep their finger on the pulse” may not know about their service.
The cost of war: the dead, the wounded, returning and dying on position
The report lists specific cases of losses among Jewish fighters. One of them is Tzvi-Hirsch (Grisha) Zvergazda, a cook and father of two. He died in June in the Kherson direction. The article notes his dream — to open a kosher restaurant in Odessa and someday receive a Michelin star.
Around the same time, Andrey Korovsky, a 32-year-old Chabad school teacher, died. He was a drone operator, had previously returned to service after a combat wound, and died on the front from a heart attack. In this fragment, the “rear” side of the war is especially noticeable: even when a person does not die from a bullet or shrapnel, the war continues to wear down the body.
Another hero is Maksim Nelipa, a 44-year-old Ukrainian actor and TV presenter. The material states that he left television at the beginning of the invasion and went to fight, and in May he was killed in battle. A separate detail strengthens the Ukraine-Israel connection: according to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, Nelipa’s son was at that time fighting as part of the Golani Brigade in Gaza and received news of his father’s death right on duty.
How many are there: assessment of losses and scale of participation
There is no official “Jewish statistics” for the Ukrainian army, and the report emphasizes that the numbers vary. But an estimate by Jewish representatives is provided: since 2022, the number of Jewish citizens of Ukraine who died in the war may range from 100 to 200 people, with dozens dying just last year. Against this background, another estimate is heard: now about twice as many Jews serve in the army as those who have already died.
This is not accounting and not a dispute over numbers. Rather, it is a marker that we are talking not about isolated stories, but about a noticeable layer of society that bears the same cost of war as the rest.
The role of communities: funerals, family assistance, chaplain on the front line
An important block of the report is about how Jewish structures in Ukraine take on what would be taken for granted in peacetime. The Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine (FJCU) reports that it helps organize Jewish funerals together with Chabad emissaries, supports families financially, and conducts prayers and Kaddish readings for the deceased.
The article also mentions Hungarian Jewish volunteer Binyamin Aser — an example of how the war attracts people to Ukraine from abroad, and the issue of a dignified burial becomes part of humanitarian work.
The work of military chaplain, Rabbi-Lieutenant Yakov Sinyakov, associated with FJCU, is described separately. He visits the trenches, brings soldiers sweets “the taste of home,” distributes books of psalms to those who ask, talks to recruits who see the front for the first time and do not always cope psychologically. Sinyakov has a master’s degree in psychology, and the material emphasizes that he knows how to “connect” with people not through slogans, but through human conversation.
His thought is also presented, explaining the moral complexity of war: some soldiers find it difficult to accept the very idea of killing, but in the “reality of evil,” he says, protecting family and country makes this choice inevitable.
Why this is important for Israel
The report includes a phrase of gratitude to Israel for accepting Ukrainian refugees at the beginning of the war. But the key meaning is broader: for the Israeli audience, Ukraine increasingly becomes an “external topic,” while for people on the front line, it is a matter of life and death, without pauses for changes in the news cycle.
The story of Jewish fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is simultaneously about Ukraine and about Israel: about shared memory, about the reaction to violence, about family ties that ended up on both sides of the fronts and borders, and about how war tears apart “ordinary life” in the most unexpected places — from Nikolaev and Kherson to Holon and IDF bases.
That is why such texts are important not as an emotional gesture, but as a document of the time: names, facts, direct words of people who fight, bury, return after injuries, and go back to positions. In the Russian-speaking Israeli agenda, this layer of reality must remain visible — and this is exactly what NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency works for.
Original from January 15, 2026, The Jerusalem Post (Eng.) report by journalist Michael Starr:
https://www.jpost.com/international/internationalrussia-ukraine-war/article-883460
