Russian drone strikes Jewish school in Kyiv, causing significant damage but no casualties

OCTOBER 30, 2024 13:00

Updated: OCTOBER 30, 2024 17:25

Drone shrapnel outside the Jewish school in Kyiv, Ukraine. (photo credit: Courtesy of JRNU) — Drone shrapnel outside the Jewish school in Kyiv, Ukraine.

(photo credit: Courtesy of JRNU)

Chabad's Or Avner educational network in Kyiv was heavily damaged, with destruction impacting classrooms and students' rest areas.

A Russian drone struck Kyiv’s Or Avner Chabad school early Tuesday, inflicting significant damage hours before students were expected to arrive.

Rabbi Yonatan Benyamin Markovitch, Kyiv’s chief rabbi and a key figure in the Chabad community, called it a “tremendous miracle” that no one was present during the explosion.

The Perlina school, part of the Or Avner Chabad educational network in Ukraine, was heavily damaged, with destruction impacting classrooms, the school’s transport vehicle, and the students’ rest area.

Several people were wounded in an adjacent building, though no casualties were reported at the school. More extensive internal damage was averted thanks to fortified windows equipped with protective film.

Markovitch, accompanied by his wife, Elke Inna Markovitch, arrived at the site with city officials and police to evaluate the damage and strategize how to maintain school operations.

Chabad Jewish school in Kyiv sustains damage after Russian drone strike (credit: Courtesy of JRNU)

Chabad conducting damage assessment

“The light of Torah and Jewish education in Kyiv will not be extinguished,” he stated. “Our mission to educate and uplift our children continues, even in challenging times.”

A neighborhood gas station only 50 meters away remained untouched by the blast.

Chabad’s Jewish Relief Network Ukraine is conducting a comprehensive damage assessment. Despite the destruction, Perlina has remained a central anchor for Kyiv’s Jewish community, operating continuously since the conflict began and serving as a critical support for Jewish students and families in the city.