A historic shul in Odessa was severely damaged Monday after a direct strike by an Iranian-made Russian suicide drone.
The Nachalas Eliezer shul, located in Odessa’s Peresyp District near the Black Sea, was engulfed in flames following a barrage of Shahed-model drones launched by Russian forces in a nighttime assault on the city. The strike sparked multiple fires and widespread destruction in central Odessa, though no casualties were reported.
While the shul was no longer in regular use, it housed sifrei kodesh, including ancient seforim and relics of a once-thriving kehilla, and remained a symbol of Odessa’s deeply rooted Yiddishe heritage.
“Just one day after mourning the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, we now mourn a new and painful destruction—the severe damage to the Peresyp Synagogue in Odessa,” said Odessa Chief Rabbi Shlomo Bakst.
“Although it hasn’t been in regular use in recent years, it stood for generations as a house of prayer, memory and sanctity, housing ancient scrolls and holy books. Its destruction is a wound to our community and our heritage,” he added.
The Jewish Community of Odessa has called on world leaders and human rights organizations to respond with urgency, saying that repeated Russian attacks on civilian and religious sites must be confronted forcefully and without delay.
