On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to world Jewry to protest the Russian invasion of Ukraine in which significant Jewish sites have been hit.
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Zelenskyy made the appeal a day after a Russian missile strike damaged the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial on the outskirts of Kyiv, where Nazi occupiers had killed more than 33,000 Jews over just two days in 1941.
Posting on social media in Hebrew, Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, said: "I appeal now to all the Jews of the world – don't you see what is happening? Therefore, it is very important that millions of Jews around the world do not remain silent now. Because Nazism was born in silence. Speak up against the killing of civilians!"
"Babyn Yar is a special place in Kyiv. A special place in Europe. A place for prayer. A memorial site for thousands of people who were killed by the Nazis … Why turn such a place into a target for a missile attack? You are killing the victims of the Holocaust all over again.
"This action is beyond human understanding. Such an attack proves that for many in Russia, Kyiv is completely foreign. They know nothing about our capital, about our history. And yet, they have ordered to destroy our history, our homeland. To destroy us all."
Earlier, shelling hit the town of Uman, a significant pilgrimage site for Hasidic Jews.
According to Ukraine's emergency service, over 2,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since the war began as well as hundreds of structures – including transport facilities, hospitals, kindergartens, and homes – have been destroyed.
"Children, women and defense forces are losing their lives every hour," it said in a statement.
Also on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials denied an earlier claim made by the Russian Defense Ministry that its troop had seized control of Kherson in the south of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the chief rabbi of Kyiv was evacuated on Tuesday along with family members and with 15 other Jews by the Security Service of Ukraine, the country's law-enforcement authority and main government security agency.
Jonathan Markovitch pledged to continue to aid Kyiv Jewry and lauded the many Ukrainians he said were "willing to defend their homeland."
The group crossed the border on Wednesday morning.
"It was unbelievable. A journey that now takes people several days took us only 14 hours," Markovitch said. "At the border, we 'only' had to wait for three hours."
The Kyiv chief rabbi was deemed to be in immediate danger by the SBU and was advised to leave together with his family immediately.
"I left with a heavy heart. I am still not sure I had done the right thing. It is clear that I did what I was told was right for the safety of the community, my family, and myself," Markovitch said.
The journey will continue to Budapest, Hungary, where Markovitch will reunite with other Kyiv Jews who had arrived in the capital earlier, and ultimately to Israel.
Meanwhile, Moshe Azman – one of Ukraine's chief rabbis – appealed to Russian Jewry to stand up to Russian aggression in Ukraine and harshly criticized them for failing to have done so already, the Times of Israel reported.
"Remember, that he who does not care and he who agrees silently is an accomplice to a crime. A war crime! A crime against humanity!" Azman, who was born in Russia, said in a video statement.
"I never thought, even in my worst nightmare, that I might have to perish under the shells of Russia, where I was born, where I went to school, where I have many friends, who are silent. Basically, no one has called and asked. People call from all over the world. From all over the world. Jews and non-Jews. Even Arabs call me from Israel and support me."
Holding a Torah scroll, he called on Russian Jewry to "wake up."
Similarly, in a video address on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the Russian people to demand President Vladimir Putin to stop the war with Ukraine.
"Ukraine has not attacked anyone and does not plan to attack. We want to live in peace. But for that Putin must stop the war and the destruction of the Russian economy that has already started and which you will suffer from," Kuleba said.
Later on Wednesday, a Kremlin spokesman said a Russian delegation will be ready on Wednesday evening to resume talks with Ukrainian officials about the war.
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "in the second half of the day, closer to evening, our delegation will be in place to await Ukrainian negotiators."
He did not indicate where the talks could take place.
There was no immediate word from Ukrainian authorities about their plans.
The first round of talks on resolving the Russia-Ukraine war were held near the Belarus-Ukraine border last Sunday. They produced no breakthrough, though the two sides agreed to meet again. Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to force him into concessions by continuing to press its invasion.
In related news, aid continued to pour into Ukraine and world powers continued to impose sanctions on Russia.
In a call with foreign reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted, "Russia's economy is experiencing serious blows. But there is a certain margin of safety, there is potential, there are some plans, work is underway."
The besieged country received $33.8 million in digital currency donations, Elliptic, a firm that tracks cryptocurrency transactions said on Tuesday. Ukraine issued a plea for contributions on Twitter last week. To date, it has received 30,000 donations.
The United States announced on Tuesday a ban on Russian flights from American airspace following similar moves by the European Union and Canada.
"I am announcing that we will join our allies in closing off American airspace to all Russian flights, further isolating Russia and adding an additional squeeze on their economy," President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address.
The US Transportation Department Federal Aviation Administration orders will take effect by the end of the day Wednesday and will suspend operations of all aircraft owned, certified, operated, registered, chartered, leased, or controlled by, for, or for the benefit of, a person who is a Russian citizen.
This includes passenger and cargo flights, and scheduled as well as charter flights "effectively closing US air space to all Russian commercial air carriers and other Russian civil aircraft," the Transportation Department said.
Late on Tuesday, United Airlines said it had temporarily suspended flying over Russian airspace, joining other major US carriers who have taken the step after Russian troops last week poured into Ukraine.
United had been continuing to fly over Russian airspace to operate some flights to and from India in recent days. Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Parcel Service all confirmed this week they had halted flights over Russia.
FedEx on Tuesday did not respond to emails asking if it has stopped flying over Russia.
United is canceling two flights to India for Tuesday and Wednesday as it evaluates how it could continue to operate via a different route that does not use Russian airspace.
White House officials had privately asked if the move would harm U.S. supply chains or have other negative impacts, sources told Reuters.
Russian flights have been effectively barred from US destinations for the most part in recent days because of bans on the use of Canadian and European airspace. Some foreign governments have privately questioned why the United States did not move faster to ban Russian planes as have some US lawmakers.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has asserted Ukraine committed "genocide" in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, without presenting evidence, and said the invasion, called a "special operation" by Russian officials, was therefore justified to end it.
Nevertheless, some nations have refrained from exposing sanctions on Russia.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told a news conference on Tuesday, "We are not going to take any sort of economic reprisal because we want to have good relations with all the governments in the world."
Russia has built strong links to various governments in Latin America, especially authoritarian administrations in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, but its ties with Mexico are seen to be limited due to the strong US-Mexico relations.
The Mexican and US economies are deeply intertwined. But leftist leader Lopez Obrador has at times had testy relations with the United States and has criticized US foreign policy.
Over 100 diplomats from roughly 40 Western countries and allies walked out of a speech given by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the top UN human rights forum on Tuesday, protesting the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The boycott by envoys from the EU, US, Britain, and others left only few in the room including Russia's ambassador to the UN and envoys from Syria, China, and Venezuela.
Lavrov addressed the UN Human Rights Council remotely, after canceling his visit due to what the Russian mission said were EU states blocking his flight path, Reuters reported.
In his speech, Lavrov accused the EU of engaging in a "Russophobic frenzy" by supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine during Moscow's military campaign.
Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod joined Ukraine's ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko behind a large Ukrainian blue and yellow flag.
"It is a remarkable show of support for Ukrainians who are fighting for their independence," Filipenko told reporters, according to Reuters.
Filipenko said there was "massive destruction to civilian infrastructure" in Kharkiv, adding: "The maternity wards are being attacked, civilian residential buildings are being bombed."
Russia denied targeting any civilian sites.
Canada's Joly said: "Minister Lavrov was giving his version, which is false, about what is happening in Ukraine and so that's why we wanted to show a very strong stance together."
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
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