A young Ukrainian soldier named Wald arrived at the Chabad House in Poltava on Sunday, directly from the battle zone against Russia, and asked to put on tefillin.
Rabbi Simcha Levenhartz, the Shliach in Kiev, who was there at the time, put on tefillin with him.
“Wald is a resident of the city and is a member of the community. A few days ago he enlisted in the army, as part of the state of emergency and the law that obliges all young people to enlist,” says R. Simcha, son of Rabbi Motti Levenhartz, principal of the Chabad School in Kiev.
“He called in the morning and said that the first thing he wanted to do was put on tefillin, before returning home. When he finished putting on the Tefillin, he thanked the Shluchim, and thanked Chabad, who have stayed to help their communities. He was quite emotional,” Levenhartz said.
Meanwhile, the fierce attacks continue. Fighting has broken out on the streets of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, after Russian forces entered the city.
Ukrainian President Zelensky said Sunday: “They lied when they said they would not target civilian population. Since the first hours of the invasion, Russian troops have been hitting civilian infrastructure.”
“This is terror,” he added, while Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Russia was committing “war crimes.”
