“I Urge Jews To Leave Russia Before It’s Too Late” Chief Rabbi of Ukraine R' Moshe Azman:

 Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Rav Moshe Azman is urging Russian Jews to leave the country before it’s too late.

“Today I would advise the Jewish communities of Russia to leave the country, and many are already doing so,” HaRav Azman said last week in an interview with Voice of America.

“I was in the Soviet Union and tried for many years to go to Israel,” said Rav Azman, who was born in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. “Therefore, when everything closes, it will be difficult to leave. The rhetoric in Russia is very dangerous. The rhetoric there now is worse than the Soviet Union.”

Rav Azman decried Russia’s preposterous propaganda against Ukraine as being led by Nazis. “They themselves act like Nazis,” he continued. “So who do they ‘denazify?’ They kill people, torture, rape. This is called ‘denazification.’ They invented this theory to justify their crimes.”

About 5,600 Jews have made aliyah to Israel since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24.

There are almost 200,000 Jews in Russia, making it the seventh-largest Jewish community in the world.