In the new episode of the channel UA Code — an interesting interview with Olga Brodskaya, the founder of the first Ukrainian-speaking Jewish community“Prostir” in Tel Aviv.
The video was published on March 12, 2025, in the series “Know Our People” Episode No. 4. Olga Brodskaya
Host, editing – Elena Ginzburg. Filming, sound – Alex Ginzburg. Haifa, Israel.
About the UA Code channel
The UA Code channel introduces viewers to people from Ukraine who are adapting and starting a new life in Israel, sharing their experiences and creating projects that help others.
We, НАnovosti – Israel News, want such inspiring stories and information to spread, as they truly deserve attention!
What was discussed in this video:
Experiences of repatriates
Olga shares her personal experience of moving to Israel, the problems new arrivals face, and how important it is to have a place where one can feel at home. The “Prostir” community helps solve these problems.
Volunteer experience: helping children affected by war
Olga talks about how she helped children affected by the war, both in Ukraine and in Israel. In Ukraine, she was part of a group of volunteers who organized camps for children who experienced the war. In Israel, she continued to work with children, supporting those who found themselves in difficult situations, helping them adapt and find support in this new world.
Support for repatriates
An important part of the “Prostir” project is psychosocial support, creating a space where people can find mutual understanding and support, especially in difficult times.
Ukraine and Israel
Olga discusses mutual support between Ukraine and Israel, especially after the start of the full-scale war. How Ukrainians in Israel united to support each other.
The future of “Prostir”
The project currently exists on a volunteer basis, and Olga hopes that support and sponsors will soon be found for its further development.
And much more
Olga shares her personal experience of volunteering, integration, and cultural issues faced by people from Ukraine in Israel, as well as the importance of maintaining connections to their native culture while adapting to new realities.
Prostir Community: Cultural and Social Space in Israel
Prostir is the first Ukrainian-speaking Jewish youth community in Israel. Olga will explain how she created a unique community that combines Jewish traditions, Ukrainian culture, and Israeli reality.
#NAnews‼️:
Olga Brodskaya continues to inspire not only those from Ukraine but also anyone who faces challenges when moving to another country. This project is an example of how support and mutual help can be the foundation for successful adaptation in Israel.
Our goal is to bring important stories to you and share them with those who need inspiration. Olga and her team are doing incredible work, creating a space where everyone can feel important and valued
April 13 is not only a day of remembrance for the officers of the Polish Army who were executed by the NKVD in 1940, but also a day that reminds us of the tragic events that affected many nations. Among the victims were not only a large number of Polish officers but also Jewish officers.
This day serves as an important reminder of how the tragedy of World War II continues in the collective memory of nations and how it is connected to the present.
After the Soviet invasion of Poland, between 232,000 and 255,000 soldiers of the Polish Army and other formations were captured. More than half of these people were sent by the Soviets to prisoner-of-war camps, where, according to NKVD reports, there were 130,242 Polish citizens. From them, 8,348 officers were separated and placed in camps in Kozelsk, Ostashkov, and Starobelsk, then “transferred to the NKVD’s disposal.” In the spring of 1940, under Stalin’s order, the NKVD executed almost all of the captured Polish officers. According to various estimates, the mass graves — so-called “pits of death” — in Katyn, Tver, Bykivnia, Kharkiv, and other locations contain between 15,000 and 24,000 Poles.
Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Katyn Crime: Historical Context
The Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Katyn Crime was officially established by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland in 2007. This day was dedicated to the memory of Polish prisoners of war who were executed by the NKVD in 1940. The tragedy that occurred in Katyn became a symbol of the crime committed by the Soviet regime against the Polish people. In Katyn, around 20,000 Polish officers were executed, among whom there were many Jewish officers. The difficulty in determining the exact number of Jews among the victims is due to the fact that many names were not recorded, and most of the victims’ relatives perished during the Holocaust.
Quote: “On April 13, 1943, the radio station ‘Radio Berlin’ reported the discovery of mass graves of Polish officers in the Katyn Forest,” — thus began the story that immortalized the Katyn tragedy in global memory.
Facts and Data: Number of Jewish Officers Killed
According to historical research, at least 438 Jewish officers were among those killed in Katyn, along with many Polish officers of Jewish origin who served in the Polish Army. This fact highlights the deep historical ties between the Polish and Jewish peoples. In 1939, there were about 100,000 Jews in the Polish Army, and 6-7% of them held officer ranks.
Among them were not only active-duty officers but also reserve specialists — doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, and engineers, whose lives were tragically cut short by the NKVD’s actions.
Professor Marian Fuks from the Jewish Historical Institute published lists of Jewish victims in the 1990s in the “Folkshtimme” publication. In the book by Binyamin Meirchak, there are the names of 231 Jews killed in Katyn, 188 in Kharkiv, and 19 Jews who died in Medno. Among them were both active-duty officers and reserve officers — doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, and engineers.
How many Jews were among the victims:
In Katyn, 231 Jewish officers were killed.
In Kharkiv, 188 Jewish officers were killed.
In Medno, 19 Jewish officers were killed.
There is also a study stating that “it should be assumed that the ratio of Jews to non-Jews was the same as in the camps. According to my estimates, there were at least 1,000 Jews among them. Thus, out of 26,000 people listed in the Politburo’s resolution, there should have been at least 2,000 Jews. Therefore, we must state that the first mass extermination of Jews on Soviet territory occurred in April 1940.”
Baruch Shteinberg: Chief Rabbi of the Polish Army and Victim of Katyn
One of the most well-known Jewish officers who perished in Katyn was Baruch Shteinberg, the chief rabbi of the Polish Army. He was born in Peremyshliany, now in Ukraine, and became the head of the spiritual care of the Polish Army. Shteinberg was one of the most prominent Jewish figures of his time, actively involved in the social life of Poland and a supporter of Józef Piłsudski.
In 1939, he was captured, and in the spring of 1940, he was handed over to the NKVD. He was most likely executed in the Katyn Forest on April 12 or 14, 1940.
Quote: “On Friday, when evening arrived, we went under the roof of a small shed. There, hundreds of Jews, under the leadership of chaplain Dr. Shteinberg, fervently prayed in Hebrew,” — recalls Bronislaw Mlynarski in his book “In Soviet Captivity”.
Facts About the Katyn Crime: Execution of Polish Officers
Date of the tragedy: In 1940, after the Soviet invasion of Poland, about 20,000 Polish officers were executed.
Places of burial: Mass burials took place in Katyn, Kharkiv, Tver, Bykivnia, and other locations.
Methods of killing: The NKVD executed prisoners with shots to the back of the head, often binding their hands behind their backs or covering their heads with clothing.
First exhumation: Exhumation was conducted by German troops in 1943. It revealed the mass graves, which became known to the world.
Parallels to the Present: How the Katyn Tragedy Is Connected to Putin’s Russia
Today, April 13, we remember the Katyn tragedy, which has not only historical but also deep political significance. The tragedy that occurred more than 80 years ago still resonates with current events. In particular, the reminder of the victims of Katyn and the many Jewish officers killed in that crime is particularly relevant in light of current events in Ukraine.
Now, as the world faces the ongoing Putin’s aggression, many historians and experts are drawing parallels with the methods used by the NKVD in 1940. This is mass killing of civilians, which is also happening in Ukraine, where Russian forces continue their violent actions. Such actions are reminiscent of those used by the NKVD in the past and demonstrate how historical lessons can be useful in a modern context.
Quote: “We cannot forget the past, or it will once again become part of our present,” — emphasizes historian Professor Marian Fuks.
Memory of Katyn as the Foundation for the Future
As a people, we must remember the tragedies of the past so they are not repeated. The memory of the Katyn tragedy should serve not only as a reminder of the victims but also as a lesson for us all. April 13 is not just a day of remembrance, but a day that calls us to reflect on how we can improve relations between peoples who have endured common tragedies.
NAnews – News of Israel continues to highlight such important events to emphasize the importance of historical memory and strengthening mutual understanding between nations. Respect for history and its facts helps us build a future free from myths and propaganda, and thus build stronger ties between Israel and Poland.
Conclusion
April 13 is a day that reminds us of the tragedy of the past and how important it is to remember those who gave their lives for the ideals of freedom and justice. We must preserve the memory of the victims of Katyn and continue to build a more just world where such tragedies will never repeat.
Follow publications in the “!! History and Facts” section, as knowing the past is the way to strong ties in the present.
On October 21, 2026, an international conference “Memory of the Holocaust: Lessons from the Past for the Future” was held in Odessa. The event was dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the All-Ukrainian Association of Jews – former prisoners of ghettos and Nazi concentration camps. In the city, which is currently under Russian shelling, Holocaust survivors, government representatives, diplomats, historians, and international experts gathered.
The conference combined discussions on Nazi crimes with issues of modern security, anti-Semitism, and responsibility for military aggression. A special place was given to the testimonies of people who survived persecution during World War II and now find themselves witnesses to the war in Ukraine again.
Roman Shvartsman and 35 years of struggle for historical memory
One of the central participants was Roman Shvartsman — chairman of the Odessa Regional Association of Former Prisoners of Ghettos and Nazi Concentration Camps. As a child, he survived the Bershad ghetto in the territory of present-day Vinnytsia region, and later dedicated decades to preserving Holocaust testimonies.
In January 2025, Shvartsman addressed the German Bundestag with the words: “In those times, Hitler tried to kill me because I am Jewish. Now Putin is trying to kill me because I am Ukrainian.” NANews detailed this speech and the reaction of German politicians. His testimony became one of the conceptual foundations of the current conference in Odessa.
An international conference ‘Memory of the Holocaust: Lessons from the Past for the Future’ was held in Odessa
Founded in 1991, the association supports former prisoners, preserves memories, historical documents, and commemorates the deceased. This work gained special significance after decades of Soviet policy, where Jewish victims of Nazi crimes were often mentioned only as anonymous “peaceful citizens.”
For Odessa, this history is particularly painful. In October 1941, on the territory of the powder depots in the area of Lustdorf Road, the occupiers killed tens of thousands of people, mostly Jews. Roman Shvartsman reminded conference participants of the 25,000 dead. Today, preserving their names and fates remains one of the tasks of the city’s Jewish organizations.
Israel, Germany, and international responsibility
The conference was attended by representatives of Ukrainian authorities, the diplomatic corps, scientific institutions, and Jewish organizations. Among the invited guests was Eyal Pevzner, head of the Israeli “Nativ” representation in Odessa. “Nativ” is an Israeli state structure working, in particular, with Jewish communities of the former USSR and issues of repatriation.
Germany was represented by former Bundestag deputy, co-founder of the Center for Liberal Modernity Marie-Luise Beck, and Goethe-Institut representative Jakob Ratzek. The governing mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, addressed the participants via video link. The German side emphasized the importance of historical responsibility for Nazi crimes and the need to preserve the memory of the victims.
Participants in the scientific discussions, including historians Anatoly Podolsky, Vitaly Chernoivanenko, and Sergey Girik, discussed national identity, countering anti-Semitism, and ways to pass on historical knowledge to future generations. Lawyers and international law specialists separately examined the legacy of the Nuremberg Trials and the issue of responsibility for modern international crimes.
For Israeli society, these issues are of direct importance. The memory of Jewish communities in Ukraine is an important part of Holocaust history, and preserving testimonies of the deceased unites researchers and families on both sides of the border. In September 2026, a ceremony in memory of the victims of Babi Yar was held at Jerusalem’s ‘Yad Vashem’, which was also reported by NANews Israel News Nikk.Agency.
Memorial ‘Against Oblivion’: Memory that must be preserved
One of the practical issues of the conference was the fate of the future memorial ‘Against Oblivion’ on Lustdorf Road, 27. The project, developed by Odessa and German specialists, provides for the installation of nine corten steel steles in the shape of tongues of flame. The composition also includes the Star of David and the names of the deceased Jews.
According to the organizers, Germany had previously allocated one million euros for the construction of the memorial. However, after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, these funds were redirected, in agreement with partners, to support the civilian population and the defense of Odessa. The implementation of the memorial project is planned to resume after the war ends with Ukraine’s victory.
The conference once again raised the question of how to preserve the testimonies of the generation that survived the Holocaust. For Odessa, this is connected with specific sites of mass killings, for Israel — with the memory of Jewish communities in Ukraine and the fates of families whose history began long before the creation of the State of Israel.
In 1978, Sonia Delaunay’s autobiography, Nous irons jusqu’au soleil — “We Shall Go All the Way to the Sun” — was published in Paris. The artist was already in her nineties. By then she had known international fame, an exhibition at the Louvre, two world wars, emigration, the death of her husband, and decades of working with colour and fabric. Yet among her most vivid memories were Ukrainian village weddings, red and green dresses, ribbons, sunflowers, and a blue sky.
we tell the story of Sonia Delaunay, a world-famous artist whose remarkable life connected Ukraine, Jewish history, and France. We do not claim to be producing an academic study: we are simply interested in people like her and their lives, so we gather facts from publicly available sources and tell their stories in accessible, popular-science journalism — please do not judge us too harshly.
She left her family home in Ukraine while still a child and spent most of her life in France. But the origins that could seem like a distant memory in peacetime Paris became a threat to her life during the Holocaust.
In art history, Sonia Delaunay is one of the pioneers of European abstract painting, an artist who changed how people thought about colour, fashion, and design. In the history of Ukrainian Jewry, she is also Sarah Stern — the daughter of an Odessa factory manager and a woman who, in her final years, had to ask for help from Soviet Odessa.
Recently published archival research has brought back stories that were barely told for decades: what happened to her parents, their visits to France, her correspondence with her mother, and the tragedy of her younger brother, who died within the Soviet system of political repression.
Odessa, 1885: Where Sarah Stern Came From
Sarah Stern was born on November 14, 1885, according to today’s calendar. Her parents, Elya (also known as Ilya) Stern and Khana Terk, were a Jewish couple living in what is now Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire.
For a long time, even the future artist’s birthplace was disputed.
Most older biographies identify Hradyzk, in Poltava Governorate — a small town now in Ukraine’s Poltava region. New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) still repeats this account.
The Centre Pompidou in Paris, however, gives Odessa as her birthplace.
The disagreement goes back to Delaunay’s own autobiography. In old age she recalled a place whose name was transcribed as Gradzihsk, as well as her father’s work in a factory. Later writers associated that name with Hradyzk and began listing it as the place of her birth.
Odessa researcher Yevgeny Demenok decided to check the story against documents rather than memories.
In the State Archive of the Odessa Region, he found a rabbinical register recording the marriage of Elya Stern and Khana Terk in May 1885, under the old calendar. The groom was 27 and the bride 22.
He then found entry No. 1173 in the Odessa rabbinate’s birth register, dated November 1, 1885, old style. It records the birth of Sarah, daughter of Elya Stern and Khana Terk.
In the Russian Empire, rabbinical registers were official records of Jewish births, marriages, and deaths. Their entries had a status comparable to civil-registration documents.
Another piece of evidence surfaced: a notarised document from St Petersburg dated 1908 that names Odessa as Sarah’s birthplace. The number of the rabbinical entry was recorded incorrectly, however, as 117 rather than 1173.
The Odessa account, then, rests on specific archival documents. Museum reference works still disagree, though, and that discrepancy should not be ignored.
By the early 1890s, the Stern family was still living in Odessa. The 1897 census lists their address as 28 Prokhorovskaya Street, apartment 9. They later lived at 8 Khersonskaya Street, apartment 26 — today’s Pasteur Street.
Jews from Ukraine: Sonia Delaunay — Sarah Stern from Odessa, who conquered Paris and survived the Holocaust
Sarah’s father worked in the metalworking industry. He later managed the production of tinplate and metal goods at a business owned by engineer M. G. Levin. Relatives remembered him as technically skilled and demanding, a man who had worked at the same enterprise for many years.
The family was not part of Odessa’s wealthy merchant class. But describing them as destitute would also be misleading: her father’s work, his professional standing, and the help the family received from relatives changed over time.
Sarah had brothers. Zeylik, born in 1888, died of scarlet fever at the age of five. Her younger brother Solomon was born on July 28, 1892. His fate would prove tragic.
Sarah was born into a world in which Jewish life was governed by special laws of the Russian Empire. Most Jews could not freely choose where to settle. The so-called Pale of Settlement covered much of present-day Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and neighbouring territories; restrictions applied to permanent Jewish residence outside it.
Odessa was an important centre of Jewish trade, education, and culture. Yiddish, Russian, Ukrainian, French, and other languages crossed paths there, while traditional communal ties coexisted with the rapid modernisation of a major port city.
The future artist experienced that world for only part of her childhood.
At approximately five to seven years old, Sarah was sent to St Petersburg to live with her mother’s prosperous brother, Heinrich Terk, and his wife Anna.
Biographies often describe this as an adoption. Demenok, however, reached a different conclusion after examining family correspondence: Khana Stern did not consent to a formal adoption. The girl was brought up by relatives and used the surname Terk, but official documents continued to identify her as Sarah Stern for many years.
The difference went beyond legal status.
In her parents’ home, Sarah belonged to the family of a working Jewish employee. In St Petersburg, she entered a prosperous, cosmopolitan intellectual household surrounded by books, painting, music, and foreign languages.
Heinrich Terk was a well-known lawyer who also engaged in business, owned property, and collected paintings. He, too, was originally from Odessa, where he was born in 1847.
In her new home, the girl studied French, German, and English, travelled, and visited European museums.
Little by little, Sarah Stern became Sofia Terk — Sonia, the woman who would go on to change European art.
Her relationship with her birth mother, however, was difficult.
In August 1904, as she prepared to study in Germany, Sonia wrote in her diary that she had told her parents about her departure. She admitted that they felt almost like strangers and that she did not experience the closeness generally expected between parents and children.
These were the words of a nineteen-year-old. They tell us how she felt at the time, but they do not prove that the relationship stayed the same throughout her life.
The surviving letters tell a more complicated story.
Germany, Paris and Ukrainian Fabrics: How Sonia Delaunay Became an Artist
In 1904, Sonia went to Karlsruhe to study painting. She moved to Paris in 1905.
French art was going through a period of upheaval. Young artists were rejecting established ways of depicting space, experimenting with form and colour, and debating whether painting had to reproduce the visible world.
Sonia became fascinated by the work of Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, and the Fauves — artists who used bold, often unnatural colours for the expressive power of painting itself.
In 1908, she married the German art dealer Wilhelm Uhde. It was a marriage of mutual convenience that allowed her to maintain her independence in France. They later divorced.
By 1909, Sonia had grown close to the young French painter Robert Delaunay. They married in November 1910, and their son Charles was born on January 18, 1911.
The couple were looking for a new way to convey movement, light, and rhythm through colour.
A turning point came through an object that people do not usually think of as a masterpiece of the avant-garde.
Sonia stitched a patchwork blanket for her newborn son.
She later remembered seeing similar combinations of fabric scraps in Ukrainian peasant homes. Rectangles of different colours formed a composition unexpectedly close to the abstract experiments of European artists.
That blanket, known as Couverture de berceau, is held in the collection of the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris.
Both museum scholarship and Delaunay herself attest to its importance. Still, the folk patchwork blanket should not be treated as the sole source of her artistic breakthrough.
Alongside her Ukrainian memories, she drew on Cubism, French theories of colour contrast, her own observations, and her work with Robert.
Together, the Delaunays developed an approach known as Simultanism. Its basic idea can be explained without specialist art-history language: colours placed next to one another affect each other, changing how we perceive brightness, movement, and space.
Red beside green seems more intense; contrasting colours create visual tension. For Delaunay, a painting no longer had to be a still representation of an object.
In 1913, the poet and art critic Guillaume Apollinaire used the term “Orphism” for a new type of abstract painting in which colour played a role of its own.
The name came from Orpheus, the figure from Greek mythology associated with music. The artists sought to achieve with colour something like what music achieves with sound.
That same year, Sonia and the poet Blaise Cendrars created an unusual book, “Prose of the Trans-Siberian and of Little Jehanne of France.”
A long sheet folding like an accordion combined poetry with a colourful composition. Readers did not simply follow the poem: their eyes took in the words, shapes, and movement of the coloured forms at the same time.
In 1914, Delaunay painted one of her best-known works, “Electric Prisms.” Its multicoloured circles, intersections, and arcs suggested the movement of light in a modern city.
Ukraine had not disappeared from her artistic world.
In her autobiography, Sonia recalled the bright clothes worn at village weddings, red and green fabrics, ribbons, sunflowers, and a blue sky. She associated these images with her earliest sense of pure colour.
In Paris, Alexandra Exter — an artist closely associated with Kyiv and the Ukrainian avant-garde — also entered the Delaunays’ circle.
Exter travelled regularly between France and Ukrainian cities, took part in art exhibitions, and introduced fellow artists to new European movements.
Her contacts with the Delaunays became part of a wider exchange of artistic ideas between Paris and Kyiv.
Later, Sonia’s art moved far beyond painting.
She designed fabrics, dresses, theatre costumes, book covers, furniture, and interiors. Geometric compositions moved from canvases onto everyday objects.
This mattered enormously to the development of modern design. In practice, Sonia argued that art could exist outside a museum, too.
Letters Between Odessa and Paris: Family, Revolution and Helping Her Mother
For years, the story of Sonia Delaunay’s relationship with her birth family was told incorrectly.
Older publications claimed that after moving to St Petersburg, she never saw her mother again and had almost no contact with her father.
The archives tell a different story.
In early 1909, her younger brother Solomon came to Paris. He remained in France until the summer of 1911, saw his sister, worked, and corresponded with relatives.
Letters from their Aunt Anna ask how often Sonia visited her brother, how he was settling in, and what he intended to do. The correspondence suggests that Sonia even considered painting his portrait.
In 1910, her mother, Khana Stern, travelled to France.
A surviving letter from Solomon told his sister that their mother was coming and asked Sonia to join them. Other family documents confirm that Sonia did meet Khana on that occasion.
Her father, Elya Stern, also visited Paris in 1914. He met his daughter, Robert Delaunay, and their son Charles.
This fact came to light through a later archival discovery, published by Yevgeny Demenok in the Odessa almanac “Deribasovskaya — Rishelyevskaya” in 2026.
The family, then, did not exist only in the artist’s memories. Her parents visited her, knew her husband and son, and followed her successes.
The First World War changed the Delaunay family’s usual geography.
In 1914, Sonia and Robert were on the Iberian Peninsula. They spent most of the war years in Spain and Portugal.
Her father continued to write to her from Odessa. He asked about the family’s health, photographs of his grandson, and Sonia’s latest work.
In January 1917, he wrote that relatives had heard of an article about her in a Portuguese newspaper but had been unable to obtain a copy. In the same letter, he described Solomon’s military service and his award of the St George Cross, First Class, which made him a recipient of all four classes of the decoration.
The St George Cross was an award of the Russian Empire for personal bravery in military service. There were four classes for enlisted men and non-commissioned officers, and receiving all four was a major distinction.
The letters show that Sonia’s artistic achievements were discussed in her parents’ Odessa home while her brother was serving through the First World War.
Then came the Revolution of 1917.
After the Bolsheviks seized power and political conditions changed, Sonia lost income from property in St Petersburg that she had inherited.
There is no proof here that all her property was confiscated. What the documents establish is the end of the regular payments that had helped support the family in France.
Sonia began working more actively in commercial design.
In Madrid, she opened Casa Sonia, a business offering clothing, fabrics, and interior decoration. That experience would later help her establish her own business in Paris.
In October 1917, her father reported that he, too, was struggling financially and could no longer help his daughter.
It was the last letter from him preserved in the family archive.
Elya Stern died in Odessa in the spring of 1919. Details of his death only came to light through a letter from a woman who knew the family — someone we will return to later.
Regular correspondence between France and Odessa then broke off for several years.
Contact resumed in 1925. This time, Sonia’s main correspondent was her mother.
Khana Stern was now a widow. Life under Soviet rule had become difficult for her: money was short, her health was deteriorating, and assistance was hard to obtain.
A letter dated October 5, 1925, records a specific sum. Khana thanked Sonia for 18 rubles passed to her through an intermediary in Leningrad. The letter also states that the transfer was equivalent to 250 French francs at the time.
These sums cannot simply be converted into present-day shekels: currencies, purchasing power, and economic conditions have changed profoundly over the past century.
Khana explained that after Solomon’s arrest, a search of her home had resulted in the seizure of a letter from her daughter, taking Sonia’s Paris address with it. She had to ask acquaintances for help to re-establish contact.
She wrote of selling household possessions — pillows, chairs, whatever remained.
In November of that year, Khana received photographs of Sonia, Robert, and Charles. She studied her grandson’s face, saw a resemblance to the young daughter she remembered, and thanked Sonia for the money.
These family letters are more revealing than many later biographies.
Khana did not discuss her daughter’s importance to avant-garde painting. She wanted to know whether Sonia was well, what her grandson looked like, and whether another transfer might be possible.
In February 1928, Khana thanked her for 20 rubles. In the same letter, she described a serious heart attack.
In October 1929, Sonia sent ten dollars. Khana asked her to be more careful in future when writing the recipient’s name, because collecting the money had proved difficult.
Food parcels were also sent, but some were returned because Khana could not pay the Soviet customs duties.
Her illnesses grew more serious.
Doctors at an Odessa clinic wrote to Sonia about Khana’s heart problems, her inability to pay for treatment, shortness of breath, and generally poor condition.
By 1931, she could not always write her own letters.
One of the last letters, written by someone else at her request, said that she had broken her arm, suffered heart attacks, and had almost no access to treatment.
Her address was still the same: 8 Pasteur Street.
This is the last reliably traceable point in their correspondence. The available materials do not establish the exact date of Khana Stern’s death.
Researchers have not found Sonia’s replies, which may once have been kept in Odessa. We therefore know what her mother asked for and thanked her for, but cannot reconstruct the entire correspondence from both sides.
Khana’s story matters particularly because accounts of Jewish emigration tend to focus on the achievements of those who became famous.
Behind one person’s success, a family often remained in very different circumstances.
Sonia was building an international career, while her mother in Odessa sold her last belongings and waited for money from abroad.
Solomon Stern: The Famous Artist’s Brother Who Died in a Soviet Prison
Sonia’s younger brother Solomon was born in Odessa on July 28, 1892.
Yevgeny Demenok and researcher Anatoly Belogorsky reconstructed his biography by comparing family correspondence with records from the Soviet agencies responsible for political repression.
Before their work, so little was known about Solomon that some biographies of Sonia even described the members of her birth family incorrectly.
As a young man, Solomon lived and worked in France and became interested in political ideas.
After returning to Odessa, he served in the First World War. His military service earned him four St George Crosses.
But the revolution placed him on the opposite side from the Bolsheviks.
Solomon was associated with the Socialist Revolutionary Party, or SRs. It had been a major party in the Russian Empire, advocating agricultural reform and a socialist transformation of society. After the Bolsheviks took power, the SRs were gradually pushed out of legal politics and then subjected to repression.
On September 28, 1922, Solomon was arrested in Kyiv.
Imprisonment, exile, new restrictions, and new accusations followed. The record of his life includes the Solovetsky camp, northern regions of the Soviet Union, and Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Solovki is a group of islands in the White Sea, where one of the best-known early Soviet prison camps operated in the 1920s. Its history became part of the development of the later Gulag system.
Khana Stern’s letters show that she was deeply worried by her son’s arrests and received very little news of him.
Sometimes she referred to his “illness.” The archival context suggests that such language may have concealed another imprisonment or exile, matters that could have been dangerous to describe openly.
Solomon’s final years can be established much more precisely.
Researchers found his name in records of the victims of political repression in Krasnoyarsk Krai.
According to his investigative case file, Solomon Ilyich Stern died on September 19, 1937, in the prison hospital of the NKVD administration for Krasnoyarsk Krai.
The NKVD was the Soviet People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, an agency that also served as the political police. It was central to the mass arrests and repression of the Stalin era.
The documents give heart paralysis as the cause of death. Nothing in the available case file indicates that Solomon was executed by shooting. The accurate description is that he died in custody, after years of persecution and exile.
The circumstances of his death are grave enough in themselves. There is no need to invent a death by firing squad when the documented story is already tragic.
Solomon left a wife and daughter. Their later lives require separate research.
We do not know when Sonia learned of her brother’s death or whether she ever had access to records of his imprisonment.
Two members of one family saw their lives diverge sharply after the revolution.
The sister designed dresses for Paris and appeared at international exhibitions. The brother, decorated for bravery in the First World War, died in a Soviet prison hospital.
For readers in Israel, this is a story familiar from many family histories of people from Eastern Europe: emigration sometimes saved one branch of a family, while relatives who remained in the USSR endured wars, arrests, and years of separation.
Historical upheavals of comparable scale appear elsewhere in our “Jews from Ukraine” series. One example is the biography of Haim Kahane, a Jew from Galicia who took part in Ukrainian fighting for Lviv, lived through the Second World War, and later helped organise Israel’s first paratrooper units.
These are different lives, but they belong to a generation for whom state borders, armies, and political regimes changed faster than family memory.
The Holocaust in France: Why Sonia Delaunay Had to Conceal Her Origins
When German forces advanced on Paris in 1940, Sonia and Robert Delaunay left the capital for southern France.
Before the war, their home had been a well-known gathering place in the art world. Their acquaintances included members of the French avant-garde, Jewish artists and writers, and emigrants from Eastern Europe.
The war changed the position of many of them.
The American collector and philanthropist Solomon Guggenheim tried to help the Delaunays move to the United States. Robert’s health, however, deteriorated so badly that they could not make the journey.
Robert died of cancer in Montpellier on October 25, 1941.
Sonia was now a widow, and her Jewish origins placed her in particular danger.
After France’s defeat in 1940, the country was governed in part by the Vichy regime — the authoritarian government of Marshal Philippe Pétain, which collaborated with Nazi Germany. It pursued its own antisemitic policies, restricting Jewish rights, helping register Jews and strip them of property, and ultimately facilitating deportations.
Southern France was not initially under direct German occupation, but that did not make it safe for Jews. In November 1942, German forces occupied this territory as well.
After her husband’s death, Sonia lived in Grasse, a town in southern France best known today for its perfume industry.
Her friends included the artists Jean Arp, Sophie Taeuber-Arp, and Alberto Magnelli. They continued to work, making drawings and paintings together.
It would be wrong to describe Grasse simply as the site of Sonia’s years-long secret confinement. She remained among artists, moved around, and worked. Yet the danger arising from her background was real.
American scholar Gail Levin explores this period in detail in her article Threading Jewish Identity: The Sara Stern in Sonia Delaunay, published in the Journal of Modern Jewish Studies in 2016.
Levin cites accounts showing that people around Sonia knew she was Jewish. This made her fear persecution and the possible loss of her artworks.
One particularly dramatic episode dates to July 1944.
According to a biographical account by Axel Madsen, retold by Levin, Sonia was travelling through Toulouse towards Spain when she unexpectedly met her former husband Wilhelm Uhde in a café.
Both were stopped by officers of the Gestapo, Nazi Germany’s secret state police.
During the questioning, Sonia claimed to be a Russian Orthodox Christian. The officers asked her questions about Kyiv and Kharkiv to test how well she knew the region she came from.
What makes this account so striking is that Sonia’s Ukrainian background — something she remembered as a source of colour and artistic inspiration — could now become grounds for dangerous suspicion.
According to the biography, she managed to avoid arrest.
Wilhelm Uhde helped her find refuge with acquaintances near Grisolles, not far from Toulouse, where Jean Cassou and the poet Tristan Tzara were staying. Some of the people in this circle were involved in the French Resistance. Sonia’s son Charles Delaunay was also connected to the Resistance.
The document check should be described with a qualification: we know it from a published biography and scholarly work, not from a surviving Gestapo report.
Nor is there documentary evidence that Sonia had already received a deportation order.
But for a Jewish woman in France under Nazi threat, the risk was entirely real.
The fate of an artist she knew, Vladimir Baranoff-Rossiné, shows how terrible the outcome could be.
Born in Kherson, in what is now Ukraine, he came from a Jewish family, worked in Paris, and was associated with the Delaunays’ artistic circle.
The Nazis arrested him in November 1943. He was later deported to Auschwitz, where he died in 1944.
Auschwitz, or Auschwitz-Birkenau, was a Nazi complex of concentration and extermination camps in occupied Poland and became one of the defining symbols of the Holocaust.
Baranoff-Rossiné and Sonia Delaunay belonged to a European artistic world where national and cultural boundaries were crossed freely. Nazi policy, however, determined people’s fates by their origins.
After the liberation of France, Sonia was able to return to an active working life.
What she had lived through did not turn her art into a direct visual chronicle of the Holocaust. She continued to work with abstraction, colour, and design.
It would therefore be wrong to call all her geometric compositions “a coded history of Jewish suffering.”
But it would be just as wrong to separate her artistic biography from the persecution she faced as a Jew.
NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency continues to tell the stories of people whose lives do not fit neatly within the borders of any single modern state in our “Jews from Ukraine” series. Delaunay’s life illustrates this especially clearly: a Ukrainian childhood, a Jewish family history, and French culture were joined in one life — including years when a question about a person’s origins could determine whether they survived.
The Louvre, Israel and the Last Letter About Odessa: Sonia Delaunay’s Legacy
After the war, Sonia continued working while also preserving Robert’s artistic legacy.
She took part in exhibitions, made graphic art and textiles, supported younger artists, and donated works to museum collections.
In 1964, an event took place that became one of the major recognitions of her work.
The Louvre hosted an exhibition connected with the donation of works by Sonia and Robert Delaunay to the French state.
Sonia is often described as the first woman artist to receive a retrospective at the Louvre during her lifetime. Major art museums have also characterised the event in those terms.
It is important to remember, however, that the 1964 exhibition involved the legacy of both husband and wife. Calling it “the first separate solo exhibition by a woman at the Louvre,” without qualification, would therefore be inaccurate.
In 1967, a major retrospective of Sonia’s work was held at the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris.
Her recognition was not merely an extension of her husband’s fame. Sonia held an independent place in the history of painting, fashion, and design. She outlived Robert by almost four decades, continuing to work and develop her own artistic language.
Her ties to Jewish culture also remained.
Gail Levin cites a recollection by art dealer Alex Rosenberg, who knew the elderly Sonia in Paris.
In the late 1960s, he was preparing to travel to Israel. Hearing this, Sonia unexpectedly spoke to him in Yiddish and asked him to bring back an Israeli perfume called “Chutzpah.”
Yiddish is the language historically spoken by many Eastern European Jews, especially before the Second World War. The word “chutzpah,” also familiar in modern Hebrew, can mean audacity, cheek, or bold determination, depending on the context.
When Rosenberg asked why she had switched to Yiddish, Sonia explained that she did not want her housekeeper to understand the request and ask for the same perfume.
But the woman understood Yiddish too. According to her, Sonia had hired her many years earlier precisely because she was Jewish.
This is one person’s recollection, recorded by a scholar, not proof of Delaunay’s particular religious beliefs.
Nevertheless, it suggests that Jewish culture remained part of her personal life even after decades in France.
The artist also had concrete connections with Israel.
In 1960, her works were exhibited at the Nora Gallery in Jerusalem. The event is mentioned in Levin’s study and in exhibition chronologies.
Her art later entered the collection of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
From July 9 to October 22, 2002, the museum held Sonia Delaunay: Works on Paper, an exhibition devoted to her works on paper.
The Israel Museum’s official exhibition archive explicitly describes her as an artist of Jewish origin born in Ukraine. Most of the exhibited works entered the museum in 1997 through a gift from collector Kay Merrill Hillman.
For Israeli art history, this is a tangible connection: it is not only about where the artist came from, but also about her works being part of a Jerusalem museum collection.
In her final years, however, Sonia found another way back to her Odessa family.
In June 1970, she received a letter from New York from Renée Raggio, a woman who had lived in Odessa in her youth and known Sonia’s father.
Researcher Valeria Dorogova discovered the letter in the Sonia and Robert Delaunay collection at the Kandinsky Library of the Centre Pompidou. In 2026, Yevgeny Demenok published the results of his examination of the document in an article titled “Sonia Delaunay’s Odessa Roots: Her Father’s Fate.”
Renée wrote that Elya Stern had worked at a factory for many years, handled demanding technical responsibilities, and enjoyed the owners’ trust.
She remembered that he developed a severe form of tuberculosis, was sent to a sanatorium near Odessa, and died in the spring of 1919.
Renée remembered one of her final meetings with him.
One spring day, shortly before his death, she and her husband visited the sanatorium. Elya was sitting in the garden, calm and talking with his visitors. Soon afterwards, Renée left the area; when she returned to Odessa, she learned that he had died.
For historians, this is rare testimony about the final months of a man whose life had received almost no attention in earlier biographies of his famous daughter.
For Sonia herself, the letter offered a chance to learn more about her father more than half a century after his death.
Some of these recollections also found their way into her 1978 autobiography.
The book Nous irons jusqu’au soleil, prepared with the participation of Jacques Damase and Patrick Raynaud, appeared a year before the artist’s death.
In it, Sonia returned to her origins, childhood, parents, and earliest visual impressions.
She remembered Ukraine’s bright colours, festive clothes, village weddings, and the colours of nature that had stayed with her.
Sonia Delaunay died in Paris on December 5, 1979. She was 94.
A substantial body of documents relating to her life and work entered museum and library collections in France. She gave materials from her early years, including family correspondence, to researcher Jean-Claude Marcadé.
Decades later, those letters enabled Yevgeny Demenok and his colleagues to reconstruct many previously unknown chapters in the Stern family’s history.
Interest in the artist continues to grow in Ukraine.
In 2019, Odessa hosted an exhibition titled “Sonia Delaunay: In Search of Identity,” devoted to her origins and art.
In November 2025, the Odessa Museum of Modern Art launched the “Ode to Sonia” programme to mark the 140th anniversary of her birth.
In 2026, the programme continued with exhibitions, research, and a project titled “Sonia Delaunay — A Simultaneous World,” connecting Odessa and Lviv.
The Odessa Museum of Modern Art, the Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum in Lviv, and the National Art Museum of Ukraine participated in organising the events. The National Art Museum of Ukraine provided seven original works by Delaunay for the Lviv exhibition.
These events show that Delaunay’s return to Ukraine’s cultural history is taking place not just in biographical articles, but through actual museum collections and exhibitions.
At the same time, her biography should not become a competition over national identity.
Sonia Delaunay was a French artist of Jewish origin, born in what is now Ukraine. St Petersburg, Germany, Spain, and Portugal also helped shape her life and education.
Certain facts, however, cannot be erased from her story.
Sarah Stern’s birth was recorded in the Odessa rabbinate’s register. Her parents lived in Odessa for decades. Her mother sent letters to Rue Saint-Simon in Paris and received money from her daughter. Her younger brother endured Soviet camps. During the Holocaust, Sonia herself had to conceal her Jewish origins.
And in her final years, she returned in memory to her childhood in Ukraine.
Sonia Delaunay’s famous colour circles belong to the history of world art. Alongside them, however, ordinary family letters have survived — letters in which a mother asks her daughter to write more often, asks about her grandson, and thanks her for help.
Without those letters, the artist’s biography would be incomplete.
NAnews. “Jews from Ukraine” series.
Documentary sources: research by Yevgeny Demenok and Anatoly Belogorsky; the Stern family correspondence; Gail Levin’s article “Threading Jewish Identity”; museum materials from the Centre Pompidou, MoMA, and the Israel Museum; studies of the Ukrainian avant-garde; and publications of the Odessa Museum of Modern Art.
In the evening of October 26 and the night of October 27, 2026, the Russian army attacked Kyiv twice with ballistic missiles. A 46-year-old woman was killed, and at least 14 people were injured. University buildings, student dormitories, hospitals, residential buildings, and metro infrastructure were damaged. The Southern Bridge over the Dnipro was closed to cars, and train routes were altered. For a large city, this means not only destruction at the impact sites but also transportation disruptions between the banks.
According to Kyiv authorities, the first wave began late in the evening of October 26. The air raid alert during the second attack lasted from 03:25 to 04:21. In the Podil district, hits were recorded on an administrative building and two non-residential structures. In the morning, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported one dead and 14 injured; a later report mentioned 15 injured. These figures refer to one series of attacks and should not be added together.
University, hospitals, and people who came to help
In the Desnianskyi district, the territory of the State Trade and Economic University, located near the Lesna metro station, was affected. The strike damaged the academic building and dormitories. Among the injured are students. According to data citing city authorities, late in the evening, nine injured were in hospitals, three in serious condition. This information is from the time of the first strike, not the final outcome of the night.
In the same area, the Prospect shopping center and Auchan supermarket were damaged: windows were shattered, and the facade and roof were affected. In other places, houses, trams, and cars were damaged. In two medical institutions, windows were blown out, including in the intensive care unit of one of them. Among the injured were two ambulance crew members who arrived after the strike.
Russia claims it strikes infrastructure used by the Ukrainian army. However, these statements do not negate the recorded damage to educational and medical buildings. There is no independent confirmation of the military purpose of each affected object at the time of preparing the material.
Why the strike on the Southern Bridge became a separate problem
The Southern Bridge is both a car crossing and a section of the green line of the Kyiv metro. After the new damage, car traffic on it was stopped in both directions. Trains on the green line ran between the Syrets and Vydubychi stations, and communication across the Dnipro was temporarily halted. Some buses were redirected via the Darnytskyi Bridge. The red metro line restored service to Lesna by morning.
At the same time, the bridge had already suffered from attacks in early October and on October 22. Repeated damage to the same transport hub raises the question not only of repairing the road surface. If the crossing is not operational, metro passengers and motorists are simultaneously forced to use alternative routes. For Kyiv, divided by the Dnipro, this is a significant limitation on city life.
In NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency, we have already analyzed Russian strikes on Kyiv amid attempts to organize negotiations. But here, the practical side seems more important to me. Damage to a strategically significant crossing does not explain the hits on university dormitories and hospitals. At the same time, it cannot be automatically asserted that all strikes on different buildings had one predetermined plan: there is no such evidence now.
What this means for Israel
For Israelis with family and friends in Ukraine, the names ‘Lesna’, ‘Chernihivska’, or ‘Darnytskyi Bridge’ are not abstract landmarks. These are areas and transport routes that people use daily. The Israeli audience is also familiar with the other side of the issue: missile defense work. A ballistic missile leaves significantly less time for warning and interception than many drones.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demanded an acceleration of air defense supplies. Even before this attack, he said that the Ukrainian side had been waiting for almost a month for American approval of missiles for the Patriot and NASAMS systems. But these statements do not establish that a specific hit occurred precisely because of the supply delay. Such a conclusion would require data on the launch, the operation of Ukrainian air defense, and the circumstances of the strike.
Israel has already faced Russian strikes on Kyiv not only as an observer. After the death of a 14-year-old Israeli citizen there in September, the country’s Foreign Ministry directly condemned the Russian attack. The history of Israeli diplomatic statements since 2022 has been detailed in a separate material by NANews. The current reports do not contain confirmation that there are Israeli citizens among the dead or injured.
The strikes on October 26–27 occurred amid new US attempts to achieve negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. In a previous analysis of American proposals, I wrote that without verifiable security guarantees, the negotiation formula would remain incomplete. Today’s attack adds specific texture to this dispute: even a local ceasefire in one area of Ukraine does not mean the cessation of shelling of the capital. According to Reuters, diplomatic contacts continued, but Russian strikes on Kyiv did not cease.
As of the morning of October 27, city services were assessing the damage to the Southern Bridge, and transport restrictions remained. The final scale of destruction and the timeline for restoration had not yet been announced.
Two days before the Knesset elections scheduled for October 27, 2026, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on the prevention of an attempt at Russian interference in the election campaign. According to journalist Nir Dvori, it involves about 80 fake accounts linked to Russia. They were intended to be used to spread aggressive messages and incite conflicts among Israelis.
But who was this operation supposed to help? Against which political forces was it directed? No answers were given on the air.
What Nir Dvori revealed about the Russian operation
On October 25, Channel 12 reported that a private cybersecurity company, collaborating with the Shin Bet — Israel’s General Security Service — thwarted an attempt at Russian influence on the upcoming elections.
According to the channel, the operation involved the use of fake social media profiles. Through them, it was planned to spread aggressive and provocative messages, intensifying the confrontation among Israelis.
The company reportedly took measures against approximately 80 accounts linked to the Russian campaign.
However, the report did not specify how many accounts were already active, how many were being prepared for use, what publications they managed to post, and whether all profiles were automated bots.
The company that discovered the operation was not named. Sources of information about the Russian affiliation of the accounts were not publicly disclosed.
These circumstances are also noted by The Times of Israel, which published a report on October 25 citing Channel 12.
Thus, it is about an attempt to influence public opinion through social networks. There is no information about hacking election systems or interfering with vote counting.
For whom or against whom were the Russian bots campaigning?
This is the main question that remains after Channel 12’s report.
Initially, 38 party lists were registered for the elections to the 26th Knesset. Some later withdrew from participation.
Russian interference in Israeli elections: for whom or against whom did the Russian bots work?
Among the main participants in the campaign are Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar, the joint list Be-Yachad of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu, Yair Golan’s Democrats, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Otzma Yehudit, Religious Zionism — Zehut, Ra’am, and the Joint Arab List.
These are political forces with different programs and positions on security, economy, religion, and state governance.
But which of them were supported or attempted to be discredited by the Russian accounts?
Nir Dvori did not report this.
The channel did not provide examples of publications that could establish the political orientation of the operation. It is unknown whether the accounts called for voting for a particular party, opposed specific candidates, or merely incited conflicts.
There is also no public information on how many real voters saw these messages.
Therefore, it cannot be claimed that Russian interference in the Israeli elections was carried out in the interests of any specific party or political bloc.
What Shin Bet officially confirmed
On October 22, three days before Nir Dvori’s report, Shin Bet announced the discovery and removal of accounts used for foreign influence on the elections.
The operation involved the cyber division of the State Prosecutor’s Office and the Central Election Commission — the body responsible for organizing elections and monitoring compliance with electoral procedures.
As Channel 12 reported, Israeli services identified a network of fake profiles and false publications. According to the channel, suspicious activity had been developing for several weeks.
However, in Shin Bet’s official statement on October 22, Russia was not mentioned. The service also did not specify the exact number of accounts, their content, and political orientation.
Therefore, it cannot be automatically assumed that the profiles removed by Shin Bet and the 80 accounts from the October 25 report are the same network.
Why Russian interference is dangerous right before voting
The elections on October 27 take place against the backdrop of sharp internal disputes.
Israelis are discussing the high cost of living, housing and food prices, the authorities’ responsibility for the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, the creation of a state commission to investigate these events, the conscription of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students into military service, and the safety of citizens, including children, in schools and on the streets.
There are already strong disagreements around such issues. For a foreign influence operation, it is enough to artificially intensify the confrontation using fake profiles and coordinated messages.
At the same time, sharp criticism of the government, disputes with the opposition, or emotional comments are not in themselves evidence of foreign interference.
On October 22, the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), operating at Tel Aviv University, published a study on foreign activity in social networks before the elections.
In particular, researchers examined the Russian operation Doppelgänger — a campaign using fake news sites and accounts to spread prepared informational materials.
According to INSS, in October 2026, this Russian network operated in Israel’s information space simultaneously with campaigns related to elections in the USA and France.
The discovered materials touched on Israel-US relations, security threats, economic problems, and emigration.
At the same time, researchers did not find agitation for specific Israeli parties or candidates in the studied Russian publications.
INSS also reported that by October 19, verified accounts spreading these materials were blocked. However, data allowing the identification of the studied network with the 80 accounts from Nir Dvori’s report was not presented.
Back on August 3, 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly warned that Russia might use upcoming elections in partner countries, specifically mentioning Israel.
At that time, he spoke about possible hybrid operations, financial influence, and attempts at political destabilization.
Now, a day before the voting, information has emerged about a specific thwarted operation.
However, Channel 12’s report does not confirm that Russian accounts financed candidates, collaborated with Israeli parties, or received assignments from local politicians.
What remains unknown a day before the elections
On October 27, Israelis will elect 120 Knesset deputies. To form a government, support from at least 61 deputies is usually required.
On the eve of the voting, four significant gaps remain in the report on the Russian operation: the content of the publications, their political orientation, audience reach, and the organizers of the specific network are not disclosed.
Based on the published data, it is impossible to determine whether Russia sought to ensure support for a particular party, weaken its opponents, or primarily increase distrust among voters.
It is also not proven that the detected attempt at interference changed anyone’s political preferences.
Russian interference in the Israeli elections became the subject of a national television report two days before the voting. However, voters were not told for whom or against whom the detected accounts acted.
This is a fundamental question for which there is currently no public answer.
Four representatives from Ukraine and two writers from Israel were included in the list of nine laureates of the Order of Peace of the Victorian Book Club for 2026. The award was announced on October 24, 2026, by the Ukrainian publication SKNews. Among the awardees are Chernihiv writer Serhiy Dziuba, Valentyna Chaikovska from Rishon LeZion, and Rimma Ulchina from Ashdod.
However, this is not a British state order: the award was established by literary and public organizations. There is no reliable published history of its awarding yet.
Two Israeli writers — two different biographies
Valentyna Chaikovska was born in Lutsk, a city in northwestern Ukraine, the administrative center of the Volyn region. She graduated from the Lviv Polytechnic Institute and worked as an engineer and teacher.
In 1998, she repatriated to Israel. In Israel, repatriation refers to the relocation of Jews and their family members under the Law of Return.
In Rishon LeZion, she continued her literary work: from 2008 to 2016, she led the “Rishon” association, which held meetings and literary evenings.
Her poetry and prose have been published in Israel and beyond. In 2024, the German publishing house Stella-Verlag released her collection of stories “Love Her” with a volume of 197 pages.
Rimma Ulchina was born in Moscow and moved with her family to Israel in 1990. She is connected with the literary life of Ashdod, writing prose and journalism.
Among her books are “Mystical Novel”, “Berenice, or Leap in Time”, and “Message from Heaven, or Unreal Detective”.
In “Berenice”, the story of a modern heroine intertwines with the fate of Princess Berenice, a representative of the Herodian dynasty who lived in the 1st century in ancient Judea, on the territory of modern Israel.
In 2011, in Ashdod, Ulchina received a special “Golden Pen” award for a series of journalistic interviews “Vis-a-vis”.
It is important not to confuse their biographies: Chaikovska is a native of Ukraine, Ulchina is a native of Moscow. Both represent Israel in the list of current laureates.
Ukrainian laureates and books about the war
Serhiy Dziuba is a Chernihiv journalist, poet, prose writer, and head of the International Literary and Artistic Academy of Ukraine. He is a co-author of the documentary series “Chernihiv in Flames” about the resistance to the Russian invasion.
Chernihiv is a regional center in northern Ukraine that the Russian army attempted to capture in the spring of 2022.
The first volume was released in 2022. The fifth, “Outpost: People Who Hold Ukraine”, was published in the summer of 2026. According to the catalog of the Chernihiv Regional Library, it contains 1035 pages of testimonies from military personnel, volunteers, and residents of the region. The presentation took place on September 18 in Chernihiv.
Yuriy Rabotin is a journalist and writer from Odesa, an honored journalist of Ukraine. In August 2026, he turned 70 years old. He has worked in journalism for over half a century; since 1996, he has headed the Odesa regional organization of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine.
His biography is unusual: in his youth, he worked at a shipbuilding plant, graduated from a maritime school, sailed on the passenger ship “Maxim Gorky”, and then became a newspaper correspondent.
Oleh Dryamin is a poet, prose writer, and artist associated with Odesa. He was born in 1956 in Sarapul, has been publishing poetry since 1974, and has been a member of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine since 1997.
Among his collections are “Lilac Grove”, “Colored Mirrors”, “Springs and Strings”. He is also a laureate of the Konstantin Paustovsky Literary Prize in 2013. In October 2026, the Odesa City Library named after Franko dedicated a video material to him for his 70th birthday.
Tetyana Muntyan is a Ukrainian poetess participating in international literary projects. Her poem about the early days of the Russian invasion was published in the Ukrainian collection “Poems about the War”.
Muntyan’s name is also among the participants of the international anti-war literary anthology. In March 2026, the organizers of another literary competition announced her as the laureate of the Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Prize. There is still little detailed independent biographical information about her.
What is known about the Order of Peace and its history
The initiators of the award in the organizers’ message are named as the Academy of Literature, Arts and Communications, the World Association G.L.O.R.I.A. from Frankfurt am Main, and the representation of the Victorian Book Club in Ukraine.
The order is declared as an encouragement for contributions to peace, humanism, preservation of cultural values, and support of creative people.
But a documented history of the award — the year of establishment, the list of past laureates, an open regulation on the competition, and the composition of the jury — could not be found.
Exact places and dates of ceremonies have not been published, although the organizers report awards in five countries. The word “Victorian” does not prove a connection with the era of Queen Victoria or the British state award system.
Elena Ananyeva heads G.L.O.R.I.A., named among the founders, and is simultaneously listed among the laureates from Germany. This does not indicate violations, but the selection process for awardees remains unclear.
The list includes nine people from four countries: besides Ukrainians and Israelis, Elena Ananyeva from Germany, Joanne Bouchard, and Martin Godreau from Canada.
The fifth country — the United Kingdom — is mentioned only among the places of ceremonies.
Reports from SKNews and the National Union of Writers of Ukraine are based on a single text from the academy’s press service, not on independent award protocols.
Why this story concerns Israel
Israeli literature has long had authors with biographies that began in Ukraine.
For example, Haim Hazaz, a native of Ukrainian Sidorovychi, became the first laureate of the Israel State Prize for Literature. His story was told separately by NANews.
Comparing this state award with the current public order would be incorrect.
However, the books of the two Israeli writers and the documentary work of the authors from Chernihiv deserve attention regardless of the status of the award. It is their content and accessibility to readers that should be evaluated first and foremost.
On December 4, 2026, a Ukrainian festive fair “Where the fair is bustling, there Andriy enchants” will take place in Bat Yam. Guests are invited to experience Ukrainian traditions, national cuisine, music, folk entertainment, and an art exhibition. The special musical guest will be Vadym Krasnookiy, the founder and frontman of the Ukrainian band Mad Heads.
The event is presented by Posh Production. The celebration will be held at Lagra Bar, located at Ha-Tzorfim, 3, Bat Yam. Doors open at 11:00.
The organizers have prepared a program where a traditional Ukrainian fair is combined with a modern musical celebration.
The venue promises stalls with Ukrainian souvenirs and vyshyvankas — traditional shirts with national embroidery. Visitors will be able to taste Ukrainian cuisine, view paintings, participate in contests, and enjoy folk entertainment.
A separate part of the program will be an exhibition-sale of works by artist Slaventia Bohatyryova.
For guests, there will also be dances, contests, and traditional fortune-telling associated with Ukrainian Andriyivski Vechornytsi. Each visitor is promised a free portion of hot mulled wine by the organizers.
Ukrainian fair in Bat Yam December 4, 2026: Vadym Krasnookiy, Mad Heads, Andriyivski Vechornytsi, cuisine and music
The musical program will feature:
Vadym Krasnookiy — frontman of the band Mad Heads;
vocal cover band “Tem-a-tem”;
DJ DOMINIC;
DJ LOUTIQUE;
DJ ANDY JACKSON.
The host of the celebration is Kyrylo Halushka.
The duration of performances and the schedule of individual numbers have not yet been published.
Vadym Krasnookiy and Mad Heads: Ukrainian rock on the Israeli stage
One of the main events of the fair will be the performance of Vadym Krasnookiy — a musician whose name is well known to several generations of Ukrainian listeners.
In 1991, Krasnookiy founded the band Mad Heads in Kyiv. The group started with rockabilly and psychobilly, later expanding their sound by adding elements of ska, punk, and Ukrainian folk music.
Among the well-known songs of Mad Heads are “Nadiya Ye”, “A Ya Na Mori”, “Smereka”, and “Ukrayina — Tse My!”.
The band has performed at major Ukrainian festivals, participated in public events, and supported Ukrainian military forces.
For Ukrainians living in Israel, Krasnookiy’s performance is an opportunity to hear familiar songs live without traveling to Ukraine.
The poster promises a performance by Vadym Krasnookiy himself, not a full concert by the Mad Heads band. The format of his stage appearance is not specified by the organizers.
Why the celebration is called “Where the fair is bustling, there Andriy enchants”
The name of the December celebration is connected with Andriyivski Vechornytsi — one of the well-known Ukrainian folk traditions.
In Ukraine, such evenings were held on the eve of the day of Andrew the First-Called. Young people gathered together, sang, danced, joked, prepared treats, and participated in various fortune-telling.
One of the most recognizable customs is “biting the kalita”. Kalita is a round ritual cake suspended on a ribbon. Participants tried to bite off a piece, often performing humorous tasks.
Another part of the tradition is fortune-telling about future weddings and family life. Today, they are more often perceived as an element of folk folklore and festive games.
According to the new church calendar, Andrew’s day is celebrated on November 30, and according to the old one, on December 13. Therefore, the fair on December 4 takes place during a period when the theme of Andriyivski Vechornytsi is especially relevant.
For Israeli readers, a clear cultural parallel can be drawn here: just as festive fairs and traditional games help preserve Jewish customs, Andriyivski Vechornytsi remain part of Ukrainian cultural memory. However, these are different holidays with their own history and religious origins.
Ukrainian events in Bat Yam: an established tradition
Bat Yam, a city south of Tel Aviv, has long become one of the meeting places for Russian-speaking and Ukrainian residents of central Israel.
Posh Production has already participated in organizing thematic events related to Ukrainian culture and support for Ukraine.
For example, on July 23, 2026, an evening “Crimea. Course for Return” was held in Bat Yam. It was organized by Svitlana Berdetska, Posh Production, and the “Dvizh” restaurant with the support of Hryhoriy Tamar. The program included Ukrainian cuisine, music, and a charity auction in support of Ukraine and the IDF — the Israel Defense Forces.
In September, Posh Production presented another entertainment project in the city — “Babiy Bunt”.
The December fair continues this line of events but places a greater emphasis on Ukrainian folk customs, crafts, and festive culture.
The fair as a meeting place for the Ukrainian community in Israel
Ukrainian cultural events in Israel gather not only immigrants from Ukraine. Israelis, families with children, friends of the Ukrainian community, and people interested in the music, cuisine, and traditions of another country also attend.
Such meetings are especially important for families who have moved to Israel in recent years. Children have the opportunity to see vyshyvankas, hear Ukrainian music, and learn about customs that parents and older relatives talk about at home.
For adults, it’s an occasion to meet acquaintances, communicate in their native language, and spend time in a familiar cultural atmosphere.
The poster for the December fair also features a note about the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in Israel. Details of the diplomatic mission’s participation in organizing the event have not been published separately.
Date, address, entrance fee, and contacts
Event: Ukrainian fair “Where the fair is bustling, there Andriy enchants”.
Date: Friday, December 4, 2026.
Doors open: 11:00.
Venue: Lagra Bar.
Address: Ha-Tzorfim Street, 3, Bat Yam (רחוב הצורפים 3, בת ים).
Entrance: donation 150 ₪.
Organizer: Posh Production.
Information: 054-982-1171.
The specified amount is referred to by the organizers as a donation. Where exactly the collected funds are directed is not specified in the published poster. There is also no separate information about children’s tickets, pre-registration, and the end time of the program.
It is recommended to clarify current announcements, possible program changes, and attendance conditions directly with the organizers.
Other cultural events, concerts, and meetings of the Ukrainian community can be found in the partner Israel events poster sTDe | NAnews.
On December 4, 2026, Bat Yam will become a venue for Ukrainian music, traditional treats, folk entertainment, and a pre-New Year fair. The main reasons to attend will be Vadym Krasnookiy’s performance, the festive program, and the opportunity to spend the day among the Ukrainian community in Israel.
On October 22, 2026, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a video conversation with Andrey Makarevich. The musician raised the issue of the division in Israeli society, and the Prime Minister responded with a promise to form a “strong right-wing government.” The publication sparked discussion on social media five days before the Knesset elections scheduled for October 27.
Makarevich and Netanyahu: video conversation about the division of Israel on October 22, 2026, and the reaction before the elections
The conversation began with the Prime Minister being congratulated on his birthday. Makarevich said in Hebrew: “Shalom, happy birthday.” Subsequently, Netanyahu spoke in Hebrew, and the musician responded in Russian.
One of the topics was the story with messages about Makarevich’s “Iranian captivity.”
In June 2025, a photo of the musician was circulated on social media claiming that the picture showed an Israeli military pilot captured in Iran. The message turned out to be false. Netanyahu recalled this episode and jokingly asked Makarevich about his time in captivity.
Then the participants of the conversation moved on to the socio-political situation in Israel.
Makarevich expressed concern about the division of Israeli society. In response, Netanyahu spoke about the “need for national unity and the country’s security.”
The Prime Minister promised to “destroy those who want to destroy us.” Speaking about Israel’s political future, he declared his intention to form a “strong right-wing government,” around which, according to him, “all good people can unite.”
The conversation ended with a discussion of issues related to the country’s future. The published video does not contain a direct call from Makarevich to vote for a specific party.
Why the Makarevich and Netanyahu video is being discussed before the elections
On October 27, 2026, elections to the Knesset, the country’s parliament consisting of 120 deputies, will be held in Israel. The composition of the parliament will be determined based on the voting results, after which the process of forming the government will begin.
Netanyahu heads the Likud party, representing the right-wing political camp.
In the last days before the elections, the Prime Minister participated in several television interviews.
The video conversation with Makarevich also appeared during this pre-election period. In the accompanying publication text, Netanyahu directly linked the conversation with the choice that Israelis have to make.
How they reacted to the Makarevich and Netanyahu conversation
The publication received responses in the Russian-speaking segment of social networks. Among them were both messages about the content of the conversation and critical assessments of the musician’s participation in the video.
Journalist Dmitry Dubov drew attention to a map that was on the wall during the conversation. According to him, he took this map from the editorial office of the former Second Israeli Channel back in 2009.
Dubov suggested that Netanyahu combined a television interview on Channel 9 with the conversation with Makarevich. This observation does not provide reliable information about the place and exact time of the recording.
The video was also reported by SVTV publication, which accompanied the publication with a critical comment about its pre-election nature.
In one of the comments on Facebook, the author criticized Makarevich’s position, comparing his previous statements about Putin with his participation in the conversation with the Israeli Prime Minister.
Another user ironically retold the conversation about the division of society, linking Netanyahu’s response to his pre-election statements.
These are the opinions of specific commentators. They do not allow judging the attitude of the entire Russian-speaking community in Israel towards the musician or the Prime Minister.
Did Makarevich support Netanyahu in the elections?
Andrey Makarevich, leader of the band “Time Machine,” resides in Israel. After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he publicly opposed the war and criticized the actions of the Russian authorities.
In an interview with Deutsche Welle in January 2025, the musician talked about helping Ukrainian civilians and explained the reasons for his decision not to fund the Armed Forces of Ukraine. NANews previously published material on these statements.
Makarevich has also repeatedly spoken about the security situation in Israel. In June 2026, he reported damage to his home during an Iranian missile attack. According to the musician, his family members were not in the house at the time of the incident.
In the video published on October 22, 2026, Makarevich congratulated Netanyahu on his birthday and raised the issue of the division of Israeli society.
Netanyahu, in turn, thanked the musician for his support and outlined his position on “security, national unity, and the formation of the next government.”
However, the published messages do not contain a direct statement from Makarevich supporting the Likud party and Netanyahu personally in the elections on October 27, 2026.
On October 24, 2026, a concert by Ukrainian singer Vasyl Mishchenko — a semifinalist of the fourth season of “Voice of the Country” and a member of Svyatoslav Vakarchuk’s team — will take place in Jaffa. The evening program includes live performances of Ukrainian songs, piano, acoustic guitar, cello, and a vocal duet.
The concert will start at 19:30 on the roof of the ancient Armenian Monastery in Jaffa, under the open sky near the sea.
On the poster, Vasyl Mishchenko’s concert is presented as Voice of Ukraine. The singer is primarily known for his participation in the fourth season of “Voice of the Country” in 2014.
Who is Vasyl Mishchenko and what does he sing
“Favorite Ukrainian Songs” by the sea on the roof of the ancient Armenian Monastery in Jaffa: Vasyl Mishchenko on October 24, 2026, in Israel
Vasyl Vasylovych Mishchenko was born on January 24, 1991, and hails from the village of Balintsy in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. Before gaining television fame, he was already professionally involved in music: he studied music, worked as an artistic director of a village club, and worked with choirs and ensembles. Later, a wider audience got to know him from the fourth season of the project “Voice of the Country. Reloaded,” where he performed in Svyatoslav Vakarchuk’s team.
But it’s better to talk about Mishchenko not only through the old TV show but also through his own repertoire. Judging by his personal YouTube channel, Vasyl does not sing in just one narrow genre. He has several noticeable lines: Ukrainian song, lyrical pop, Italian repertoire, English-language covers, and his own recordings.
One of his most notable works on the channel is the song “Moya”. The video is published as “Vasyl Mishchenko — Moya (premiere 2020)”, and among the videos on the channel, it appears to be one of the most viewed. This is no longer a television number from someone else’s project, but the artist’s own solo work.
A special place in his repertoire is occupied by the Ukrainian theme. The channel features the video “Ukraina”, as well as the recording “Dyvlyus ya na nebo” — one of the most famous Ukrainian lyrical songs. For the Israeli reader, it is worth explaining here: “Dyvlyus ya na nebo” is a very recognizable Ukrainian piece, often performed by singers with an academic or semi-academic manner. For Mishchenko, such material is quite natural: he has a strong baritone and delivery designed not for a quick pop number but for a long vocal phrase and a “live” voice.
At the same time, his repertoire is not limited to Ukrainian songs. The channel features Il Mondo, that is, Italian song classics, with which he, by the way, has been associated since the times of “Voice of the Country.” There is also an English-language cover — Can’t Help Falling in Love With You from Elvis Presley’s repertoire. This is already a slightly different angle of his work: not an academic number and not Ukrainian lyrics, but soft romantic pop.
That is why Mishchenko cannot be described in one phrase like “sings Ukrainian songs.” It would be more accurate to say this: his repertoire is based on several pillars — Ukrainian lyrical song, pop ballads, Italian vocal repertoire, and individual English-language covers, plus his own solo works.
If we list the most notable songs and recordings visible on his YouTube channel and known performances, they are primarily:
“Moya” — own solo song; “Ukraina” — Ukrainian patriotic/lyrical repertoire; “Dyvlyus ya na nebo” — famous Ukrainian song; Il Mondo — Italian repertoire; Can’t Help Falling in Love With You — English-language cover.
So at the concert in Jaffa, the audience will not see a random performer “from the poster,” but a singer with an already established manner: a strong baritone, a tendency towards melodic songs, a love for Ukrainian lyrics, and experience performing both Ukrainian and international repertoire.
Before “Voice of the Country,” Mishchenko was already involved in music not as a hobby.
He studied, worked with musical groups, and was the artistic director of the village club in his native Balintsy. In interviews after the project, he talked about working with choirs and ensembles, about performances, and about starting to sing in childhood.
His voice was often called academic at the time. Mishchenko himself recalled that while working with Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, he had to change his usual manner: not every composition required maximum strength and sound density, some songs needed to be performed noticeably lighter.
The repertoire of the “Voice of the Country” period included works in different languages. Already at the first television performance, he chose the Italian Il mondo, and then showed his voice in completely different musical forms.
What will happen on October 24
Organizers call the evening a special concert program of favorite Ukrainian songs.
The concert will take place with live musical accompaniment.
Together with Vasyl Mishchenko, VERONIKA BROOK — vocal duet, ALEX GOLD — piano, STAV FISHER — acoustic guitar, and ALISA GOLDENBERG — cello will perform.
Such a lineup immediately sets a rather chamber format. There is no dance show or electronic program announced here: the basis of the evening should be the voice and acoustic instruments.
For some Israeli listeners, the expression “Ukrainian songs” may primarily mean folk repertoire. However, the announcement does not publish a specific list of compositions: the organizers formulate the program more broadly — as favorite Ukrainian songs. Therefore, we will not pre-assign certain works to the concert.
And one more fundamental detail: the concert invites everyone interested in Ukrainian music and live performance. This is not a closed event for any one community. The songs will be performed in Ukrainian.
Old Jaffa, the sea, and the monastery
The venue is one of the most unusual parts of this poster.
The concert will take place on the territory of the Armenian Monastery in Jaffa, in the evening space near the sea.
For those who have recently lived in Israel: Jaffa is part of the unified municipality of Tel Aviv–Jaffa, but Old Jaffa is an ancient port part of the city with stone buildings, temples, monasteries, and streets leading directly to the Mediterranean Sea.
According to the organizers, entry to the concert will be from the Jaffa promenade. They separately warn guests not to orient themselves to enter through the Old City.
There is also a very practical point. During the day in Israel at the end of October, it can still be hot, but near the sea after sunset, the temperature feels different, especially with the wind. Organizers advise taking a light wrap or something warm.
Thus, the venue here is not just an address on the poster. The concert format is directly related to the space: evening, sea, old walls, and live music without a large closed hall.
NANews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency regularly tells how Ukrainian music and Ukrainian cultural projects become part of the Israeli poster: from tours of famous performers to local concerts, club evenings, and performances by musicians already working in Israel.
Concert partners
The official poster lists two event partners — SHO? Traditional Ukrainian Food and MAK UA.
SHO? — a restaurant of traditional Ukrainian cuisine in Tel Aviv on Carlebach Street, 3. The Israeli edition Ynet described it as a Ukrainian cuisine restaurant that simultaneously works as an evening venue and event place.
The Ukrainian catalog Svoyi calls SHO? the first restaurant of traditional Ukrainian cuisine in Israel. The menu includes borscht, chicken Kiev, dumplings, varenyky, and other dishes; live music is regularly held there.
MAK UA — this is “Ukrainian Amateur Art Forge in Israel”, a Ukrainian creative collective/cultural initiative in Israel. The project has its own theatrical and cultural programs, and in 2025 MAK UA staged an original Ukrainian play “The Tale of Malanka and the Evil Snake” in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Ashdod. NANews Israel News Nikk.Agency
In 2026, MAK UA also participates in Ukrainian cultural events in Israel. For example, Marina Kadatska represents MAK UA in the DISCO UKRAЇNA “Veles Night” program, where the project is responsible for the Ukrainian cultural context of the evening — symbols, images, and traditions.
Main before the trip
Vasyl Mishchenko’s concert will take place on October 24, 2026.
Start — 19:30.
Venue — Tel Aviv–Jaffa, Armenian Monastery area near the sea (on the roof).
Entry — from the Jaffa promenade.
The program includes Ukrainian songs performed live.
On stage, along with Vasyl Mishchenko, VERONIKA BROOK, ALEX GOLD, STAV FISHER, and ALISA GOLDENBERG will perform.
Evening partners — SHO? Traditional Ukrainian Food and MAK UA.
For ticket purchase inquiries, organizers suggest contacting through the event publication on Facebook:
On October 24 in Jaffa, everyone interested in Ukrainian songs, live vocals, and music in a chamber format is invited. The program will be performed in Ukrainian, and the concert itself will take place not in a regular hall, but in the evening by the sea, on the territory of an ancient monastery.
