Ukraine accused Russia on Tuesday of carrying out a "barbaric" rocket attack on a Kyiv TV tower that killed five civilians near Babyn Yar, a memorial site to one of the biggest single massacres of Jews during the Holocaust.

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Two rockets struck the tower, killing five people who were walking nearby, said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, urging residents to stay off the streets due to the threat of attack.

Video shared online by the city's emergency services showed first responders walking past downed power lines to put out fires in the rubble of buildings at the base of the tower, which stands opposite Babyn Yar.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: "What is the point of saying 'never again' for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar? At least 5 killed. History repeating…"

The attack came on the sixth day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as Russia warned Kyiv residents to flee their homes, intensifying bombardment of Ukrainian urban areas in a shift of tactics after the Russian assault stalled. Read full story

"On September 29-30, 1941, Nazis killed over 33 thousand Jews here (in Babyn Yar). 80 years later, Russian Nazis strike this same land to exterminate Ukrainians. Evil and barbaric," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour's military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.

Work is ongoing to restore the TV tower's full signal and channels are still available via satellite, cable and internet connections, Klitschko, the mayor, said in his online statement.

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President Isaac Herzog landed in Kiev on Tuesday for his first visit to the Ukraine as president, at the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

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The president discussed the history of Ukrainain Jewry, saying that "Some of the greatest Jewish figures were born and raised here – religious and spiritual leaders, statesmen, Zionist thinkers and notable cultural heroes."

However, Herzog said, the Jewish people also had a "difficult and painful history" in Ukraine, having been subjected to rioting and pogroms in earlier centuries, as well as the infamous Nazi massacre at Babi (Babyn) Yar.

Herzog thanked Zelensky for making legislation opposing antisemitism a priority and said he hoped the bill would pass soon.

In addition, Herzog noted that Ukraine had elected not to participate in the recent 20^th anniversary event to commemorate the 2001 Durban Conference. Ukraine was one of over 30 nations that agreed to Israel's request to skip the event.

Earlier, Herzog laid a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier and at a memorial to the victims of the Great Famine.

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The Knesset held a commemoration meeting on Sunday to mark 80 years since the Babi Yar [Babyn Yar] massacre, the symbol of what is known as the "Holocaust of the Bullets," and which began on the eve of Yom Kippur.

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In just two days, the Nazis murdered nearly all the Jews in Kiev: 33,771 people. During the German occupation of Ukraine (1941-43), nearly 100,000 victims were murdered and buried at Babi Yar, the overwhelming majority of whom were Jewish, but also included opponents of the regime, the mentally ill and Roma people, making it the largest mass grave in Europe.

The meeting was attended by Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy; Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai; chairman of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center Natan Sharansky; Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan; World Zionist Organization and acting Jewish Agency chairman Yaakov Hagoel; and Association of Ukrainian Immigrants in Israel chairman David Levin.

"The massacre at Babi Yar is one of the worst single atrocities humanity has ever known, as more than 33,000 Jews were murdered, shot to death, simply because they were Jews," Levy said.

Sharansky called on the Israeli government and Holocaust institutions that had visited the German extermination camps in Poland to visit Babi Yar.

"There were two methods to the extermination of the Jews," he explained. "Cold-blooded murder with bullets and burial in mass graves throughout Eastern Europe, of which Babi Yar is the symbol, and mass, systematic extermination using gas in camps established by the Nazis in Poland. In order to understand the entire story of the extermination of the Jews in-depth, I call on the Israeli government and anyone who has visited Poland to visit Babi Yar, as well."

Prior to the meeting, Levy presented a medal on behalf of the Knesset to the last survivor of Babi Yar, Michael Sidko, who was just six years old when he witnessed Nazi soldiers murder his infant brother Volodya, his younger sister Clara and his mother, whose screams Sidko heard as she was shot to death in the forest of Babi Yar.

Sidko and his brother Grisha survived the Holocaust, thanks in part to a Polish neighbor who took them home and passed them off as her own sons until the end of the war.

Levy said: "I could not help but be moved and to shed a tear listening to Michael's heartbreaking story, how he saw his dear family taken away from him in front of his own eyes. I salute Michael for his heroism, and I am grateful to him for sharing his story with me, and I was honored to present him with a medal of recognition on behalf of the Knesset, on behalf of Israeli democracy. I reassured Michael that the memory of his family, along with all the victims of Babi Yar and the Holocaust, will be safeguarded forever.

"Michael's story is intertwined with the story of the State of Israel, which arose from the ashes of the Holocaust, in order to stop the shedding of Jewish blood and to build a home for the Jewish people in the land of their ancestors," he continued. "We must maintain the security, and the economic and social strength of the State of Israel, which together are the best guarantees for the future of our country, and for our ability to stand by the vow we made to Michael and all the victims of the Holocaust: Never again."

Sharansky promised Sidko that the names of his mother and siblings would be mentioned at the official ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the massacre, due to take place in Kiev on Oct. 6.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Archive footage and photographs preserve memories of one of the biggest single massacres of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust in a documentary premiered by Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa on Monday.

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"Babi Yar. Context," unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival, tells the story of the mass killing that marked the start of the Holocaust in occupied Soviet Ukraine, as well as surrounding events.

"It is a deep history and we have to know our history, and films must provoke interest in our history," Loznitsa said at the launch.

Nazi German forces shot dead an estimated 34,000 Jewish men, women and children on Sept. 29-30, 1941, in a large ravine known both as Babi Yar and Babyn Yar, on the edge of Kyiv.

The 56-year-old director said he grew up in the city, not far from the site, and found traces of the past as he wandered around as a child.

"I remember the stones which they left ... when they destroyed the Jewish cemetery. The stones were in the bushes," he said. "I asked myself what happened here, what is it?"

But the adults around him were not forthcoming. "They would say, when you will grow up you will know."

"Babi Yar. Context' is Loznitsa's seventh film at the Cannes festival. In 2012, his movie "In the Fog" competed for the Palme d'Or.

In May, Ukraine unveiled a synagogue built of wood and designed to unfold like a pop-up book at a site commemorating the victims of the massacre.

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At a ceremony hosted by the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center on Thursday, Ukraine's Head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine Andrii Yermak, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal, and Ukraine's Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko honored Ukrainians who saved Jews during the Holocaust.

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Yermak announced that those still alive will receive a lifelong monthly state stipend, in recognition of their heroism.

The ceremony marked the first Remembrance Day for Ukrainians who rescued Jews during World War II. Earlier this year, Ukraine's parliament passed a resolution designating May 14 as an annual commemoration day to honor their actions.

"Babyn Yar became a terrible symbol of the Holocaust in Eastern Europe because of the massacre of World War II. In just two days, almost 34,000 Jews from Kyiv were killed," said Yermak. "Today, it is important to honor the memory of these people and praise those who saved them at the risk of their own lives. Express gratitude for the hope they have given back to the world. And I hope that future generations will remember this feat for centuries."

Following World War II, a total of 2,659 Ukrainians were awarded the prestigious title of "Righteous Among the Nations" by Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. Of all countries, Ukraine has the fourth-largest number of "Righteous Among the Nations." However, it is believed that a far greater number of Ukrainians risked their lives and those of their families to save Jews from the Nazis. The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center is working to uncover many of these unknown stories.

At the ceremony, it was announced that the 18 Ukrainian "Righteous Among the Nations" who remain alive today will each be recognized by the state for their bravery with a monthly state stipend for the remainder of their lives.

"This landmark event is a clear indication that the Ukrainian public consciousness affirms high ideals of respect for human life and recognition of responsibility and memory, which contribute to the construction of a free, democratic society… On the Day of Remembrance of Ukrainians who saved Jews during the Second World War, we honor the feat of these courageous people who have become and remain for us an example of humanity and self-sacrifice," Shmygal said.

The ceremony took place at the new symbolic synagogue at Babyn Yar and was attended by state officials, diplomats, religious leaders, cultural and community figures. The symbolic synagogue is the first construction to be completed in the planned Babyn Yar memorial complex, which will stretch over an area of 370 acres, making it one of the world's largest Holocaust memorial centers. A dozen buildings will eventually be erected as part of the complex.

On September 29 and 30, 1941, 33,771 Jewish victims were shot at Babyn Yar by the Nazis. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Roma, mentally ill and others were shot thereafter at Babyn Yar throughout the Nazi occupation of Kyiv. The estimated number of victims murdered at Babyn Yar is around 100,000, making it Europe's largest mass grave. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre and commemorations will culminate in an international event including global leaders in September – October 2021.

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The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center has unveiled its plans for constructing one of the world's largest Holocaust memorial centers. The complex will be built at a 150-hectare site  at Babyn Yar (Babi Yar) and is planned to include a dozen buildings to honor the memory of the 33,771 Jewish victims who were shot at the Babyn Yar ravine by the Nazis from Sept. 29-30, 1941 and the some 100,000 people the Nazis murdered there in total, including Jews, Ukrainians, Roma, and the mentally ill.

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The site will also commemorate the 1.5 million Jews murdered in similar Nazi mass shootings in the Ukraine and the rest of eastern Europe.

In September 2020, Ukrainian Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko, acting for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with BYHMC to construct a "fitting memorial" to the horrors perpetrated at Babyn Yar.

"The Babyn Yar Massacre and the Holocaust of the Jews of Ukraine are an important and tragic chapter in the history of our country. The establishment of the Babyn Yar Memorial Center, the construction of which will begin during the 80th year [after] the terrible massacre, is essential for the commemoration of the Holocaust.

"As Europe's largest mass grave, Babyn Yar represents unimaginable destruction. Thanks to these plans, it will become a place of peace, reflection and tranquility," Zelensky said.

To illustrate the need for a commemorative site of this scope, a recent survey conducted in Ukraine showed that 68% of respondents believed that the memory of 20^th-century genocides such as the Holocaust was fading. Only 16% respondents knew that over 1 million Jews had been fatally shot during the Holocaust, not far from where their own homes are now located.

The complex's buildings will include a museum dedicated to the Babyn Yar massacre; a museum to commemorate the Holocaust of Ukrainian and Eastern European Jewry as a whole; a structure bearing victims' names; a religious/spiritual center that includes a synagogue, church and mosque; an educational and scientific research center; a multi-media center; a learning and recreational space for children; and an information and conference center. The first synagogue at the site and an exhibition space are scheduled to be completed this year, ahead of the 80th anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre this September.

BYHMC Artistic Director Ilya Khrzhanovsky is directing plans for the new museum complex and is consulting with international experts in museum development. The planning team also includes young Ukrainians.

In December 2020, BYHMC presented its plans to Zelensky and Tkachenko. Zelensky instructed Tkachenko to expedite construction of the synagogue and exhibition space by this September.

Former prisoner of Zion and former head of the Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky, who chairs the BYHMC Supervisory Board, called the museum concept "amazing."

Sharansky said that the "museum and educational center will not only both be high quality, but at the same time different from many other Holocaust centers. As such, it will help fill a vacuum in the field of Holocaust studies."

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