This prolonged assault, occurring on Saturday night, marks one of the most intense overnight aerial bombardments in months, as Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine extends into its third year. An attack on the city's Institute of Cardiology resulted in the deaths of a nurse and a patient, emergency services disclosed. President Zelensky also noted that a large bakery, residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, and an automobile rubber factory were intentionally struck.

President Zelensky promised that Ukraine "will strike back" to "force diplomacy" from Russia, adding that he expects a "strong reaction" from the United States and Europe. "This dastardly attack took place in fact as the end of the week of the UN General Assembly, and this is how Russia declares its real position," Zelensky stated. The Ukrainian leader reiterated his support for US President Donald Trump's proposal of stricter sanctions against Russia, along with his demand that European allies limit Russian oil and gas imports.

The regions of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Khmelnytskyi, Odesa, and Chernihiv also experienced impacts from the attacks, Zelensky indicated. Governor Ivan Fedorov stated that 31 people were wounded in the Zaporizhzhia region, including three children: two boys, aged 11 and 12, and a nine-year-old girl. Additionally, a 59-year-old man was confirmed dead in strikes within the Sumy region, according to its regional governor.

President Trump has recently adjusted his stance on the war, suggesting last week for the first time that Ukraine is capable of reclaiming land lost to Moscow as the protracted conflict weakened the Russian economy. Despite this, the US president has refrained from imposing further sanctions on Russia, though he appears increasingly frustrated by the Kremlin's lack of eagerness to initiate peace discussions.

President Zelensky cautioned that Russia would not be confined to his country, which he believes is why European air defenses are being tested through incursions into several nations belonging to the NATO alliance. Responding to the strikes on western Ukraine, jets were scrambled in neighboring Poland early on Sunday, the nation's armed forces reported. While denying any intent to attack NATO or EU states during a speech at the UN General Assembly, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov did issue a warning of a "decisive response" to any "aggression" directed toward Moscow, Reuters reports.

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The establishment of a new Ukrainian branch of the Jewish National Fund was announced during a meeting between President Isaac Herzog and members of the Ukrainian Jewish community Wednesday.

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Among those in attendance were Israel's Ukraine envoy Michael Brodsky, Housing and Construction Minister Ze'ev Elkin, Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center Chairman Natan Sharansky, World Zionist Organization Chairman Yaakov Hagoel, JNF Vice-Chairman Hernan Felman, as well as Shas MKs Moshe Arbel and Michael Malchieli and Yisrael Beytenu MK Evgeny Sova.

JNF has years of experience in planning forests, with the objective of ensuring the wooded areas are able to last for many years and allow for a variety of ecological services. Following an executive order from Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to significantly increase the forested areas of the country by 2030 and plant a billion trees by 2024, Ukraine's Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Minister Roman Abramovsky contacted JNF Chairman Avraham Duvdevani to promote cooperation between the Ukrainian government and JNF in the fields of forestation.

Speaking at the event, Herzog said the establishment of JNF's Ukrainian branch was the sign of a process that had come full circle. "After all, the [charitable, pre-Zionist] Odessa Committee began to purchase lands in Israel and establish communities long before JNF's establishment. In Odessa, JNF's seeds, the seeds of Zionism, were sown. The wellbeing of the Jewish community, any Jewish community, is tied to that of the State of Israel," he said.

Hagoel said: "The opening of a Jewish National Fund branch on Ukrainian territory opens a window of opportunity for countless initiatives for the continued construction of the bridge between … the people of Israel.

"We will continue to work together with all the officials to assist, to deepen the relationship, to build the bridge, and realize the continuation of the Zionist vision for generations to come. In Basel, [Zionist visionary Theodor] Herzl said, 'I established the Jewish state.'"

Felman said: "The establishment of JNF Ukraine will empower the community here and help further bolster the warm relations between the countries. JNF recently responded to the Ukrainian government's request for cooperation, the transfer of knowledge and technology, and the significant increase of forested areas in the state by 2030 as part of its handling of the climate crisis."

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It is yet another case of anti-Semitism in Ukraine in the past several weeks.

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In September, for instance, unidentified criminals desecrated a monument dedicated to the Jews who perished in a massacre in Bogdanovka village in the Nikolayev region.

The attackers this week spray-painted a swastika in red and left a note with threats to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and former transportation minister Yevhen Chervonenko, who are Jewish; and head of Ukrainian Jewish Committee Eduard Dolinsky.

Haim Ben-Yakov, CEO of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, addressed the Ukrainian government, saying "to our great dismay, recently we have been witnessing an increasing number of anti-Semitic incidents all across Ukraine. The country's law-enforcement agencies must do everything possible to find and prosecute the criminals. Desecration of monuments is an alarming symptom of a troubling condition, which can develop into a more acute form."

"It is urgent that we act promptly and decisively in order to avert further escalation of anti-Semitic sentiment in the country," he stressed.

On Nov. 27, Kiev will host the first Summit of Euroasian Jewry, bringing hundreds of Jewish leaders from across the region together for the first time.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Netanyahu said he was traveling at the invitation of Ukraine's recently elected President Volodymyr Zelensky, in what Israeli media reported was the first visit to the country by an Israeli premier in 20 years.

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Netanyahu said, "We have hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens from Ukraine who constitute a living bridge between the two countries, and the link between us is tightening. The president and I will discuss the establishment of a free trade zone and a pension agreement, as well as a series of other issues that will further strengthen the excellent connection between the two countries.

Zelensky, who is Jewish, has hinted at admiration for the Jewish State, invoking its defensive prowess in his inauguration speech in May.

"We must become Icelanders in soccer, Israelis in defending our land, Japanese in technology," he was quoted by the BBC as saying in a pledge to protect the "protect the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."

More than a million people from former Soviet republics came to Israel after the fall of the Iron Curtain.

While in Ukraine, Netanyahu will also visit the memorial at Babi Yar, the site where Nazi soldiers and local collaborators shot and killed over 33,000 Ukrainian Jews in April 1941.

Analysts say that Netanyahu is looking to bolster the standing of his Likud party among Israelis of Ukrainian origin ahead of the Sept. 17 election.

Such voters have historically been inclined to vote for the nationalist and pro-Russian Yisrael Beytenu party, led by Netanyahu rival Avigdor Lieberman.

Netanyahu and his right-wing and religious allies won the most seats in an April election but failed to forge a viable coalition prompting a repeated round of elections.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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Zelensky, 41, was sworn into office in a ceremony held at Ukraine's parliament in Kiev.

Taking the oath of office, Zelensky, who is Jewish, pledged to "protect the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine" evoking the defensive prowess of Israel.

"We must become Icelanders in soccer, Israelis in defending our land, Japanese in technology," he was quoted by the BBC as saying.

Zelensky announced the dissolution of parliament and called for early elections.

"People must come to power who will serve the public," he said.

Zelensky's bid for the presidency started as a joke but struck a chord with voters who were frustrated by poverty, corruption and a five-year war between pro-Russian separatist groups and government forces that has claimed some 13,000 lives.

Zelensky takes the helm of a country of 45 million people beset by challenges as Ukraine's youngest-ever president in the post-Soviet era and with no political experience.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS. Read more at https://www.i24news.tv/en.

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The latest opinion polls show his incumbent rival and confectionary mogul Petro Poroshenko heading for a brutal defeat in the second-round runoff. A survey by the Rating pollster shows Zelensky winning 73% of the vote against 27% for Poroshenko.

Polls opened at 8 a.m., with exit poll results expected at 8 p.m. and the first preliminary results several hours later.

Zelensky's rise to political prominence has been extraordinary, and his win would be considered the beginning of a new chapter in the country's turbulent history.

Many dismissed his initial decision to run for the presidency as a joke, but three months later he won the first round of the election on March 31 with 30% of the vote, receiving nearly twice as many votes as Poroshenko.

Two weeks later, in what was deemed as his first foray into big-league European politics, the political neophyte held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace. After the meeting the comedian – whose political experience is limited to playing a president on TV – said the French leader was one of the rare politicians with a sense of humor.

"And now he is not alone," Zelensky added.

Opinion polls suggest Zelensky is set to win the election hands down, becoming post-Soviet Ukraine's sixth leader.

The star of the "Servant of the People" television series has capitalized on Ukrainians' despair over mainstream politics, war with Kremlin-backed rebels, poverty and corruption. Supporters say Zelensky has the ability to clean up Ukrainian politics, comparing his rise to a peaceful anti-establishment revolution, the country's third after the 2004 and 2014 uprisings.

His brand of outsider politics and unorthodox style earned him comparisons to Italy's comedian turned politician Beppe Grillo and U.S. President Donald Trump. However, many say Zelensky's charm offensive is more style than substance and his incumbent rival calls him a "pig in a poke."

Critics say his political program is vague at best and that a country at war should not be taking a chance on a political novice. Many point to Zelensky's ties to controversial oligarch Igor Kolomoysky, one of the richest people in Ukraine.

Zelensky has shunned campaign rallies in favor of comedy gigs. He prefers to get his message across through slick videos on social media including Instagram where he has 3.7 million followers.

He has also said he wants Washington and London to join the Minsk peace talks to end the war with the separatists and to continue cooperation with the IMF.

The father-of-two from the industrial city of Krivy Rig in central Ukraine is a dollar millionaire. He has a law degree but made his career in entertainment.

Although Zelensky is of Jewish descent, he has said that religion is a personal matter and plays no part in his campaign. If elected though, he would become the country's first Jewish president and could serve as a potential unifying figure in a place where anti-Semitic incidents have been said to be on the rise.

Poroshenko won a decisive victory in a presidential election in 2014 after a pro-Western uprising ousted his Kremlin-backed predecessor Viktor Yanukovych.

The businessman, who amassed a vast fortune in chocolate, made closer ties with the West and cutting ties with the country's Soviet past the central mission of his term.

Poroshenko's backers credit him with rebuilding the nation's army, securing an Orthodox Church independent of Russia and winning visa-free travel to Europe.

He has positioned himself as the only politician able to take on Russian President Vladimir Putin amid a five-year conflict with Kremlin-backed insurgents that has claimed around 13,000 lives.

However, critics say the 53-year-old has done too little to tackle graft, improve living standards or uphold the rule of law.

After the first round of the election, Poroshenko struck a contrite note, saying he needed more time to turn the country around.

The father-of-four was born in the southwestern town of Bolgrad and studied economics. He entered politics as a lawmaker in 1998 and was one of the founders of Yanukovych's Regions Party in 2000. He then changed sides after the 2004 election widely seen as rigged by Yanukovych.

An investigative report last year said Poroshenko and his family enjoyed a $500,000 holiday on a private island in the Maldives, a revelation that prompted public indignation.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS. Read more at https://www.i24news.tv/en.

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