Anti-Semitic graffiti was discovered scrawled across a synagogue in the central Ukrainian city of Cherkasy.
Vandals spray-painted “kill the Jews” and “Jews annexed Ukraine” on an external wall of the synagogue.
The unknown inciters used the word “zhyd,” which is considered a derogatory term by many Ukrainian Jews.
There have been Jews in Cherkassy since the 16th century CE, but many fled due to Cossack massacres.
After the city was annexed by Russia in the 18th century CE, Jewish community life developed, and the Jewish population rose rapidly.
The community of Cherkassy suffered tragically during the Russian civil war and during Nazi Germany’s occupation of the town. However, Jewish life revived and the synagogue was opened in 2003.