Gennady Kernes, the Jewish mayor of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, is undergoing emergency surgery and fighting for his life after being shot in the back.
Ukrainian Jewish Mayor Gennady Kernes, after being shot multiple times in the back, is in critical condition.
The incident occurred on Monday – Holocaust Memorial Day; a day earlier, on the eve of the commemoration of the Nazi murder of six million Jews, an Israeli Jew was attacked by Palestinian Arabs in Berlin, Germany.
Police are searching for the perpetrators.
Kernes had been jogging and was shot in the back several times, media reports say.
Kernes “is a very dear Jew, with a warm and loving connection to the community, and we are shocked by the assassination,” Kharkiv Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz told Israel National News.
Kernes has also been described as a “mini-oligarch” – in this case meaning a “successful businessman wealthy enough to launch a career in politics,” INN reports.
According to INN, “the shooting comes a day after ultra-nationalists clashed with anti-government protesters in the city, leaving 14 people injured.”
In a video uploaded two weeks ago, the report continues, Kernes can be seen calming down protesters.