A crowd of more than 2,000 Jewish pilgrims accumulated Wednesday on the closed border between Ukraine and Belarus, prompting a clash and diplomatic tensions between neighbors.
On Wednesday, the Ukrainian government accused its Belarusian counterparts of giving pilgrims false hopes of entering despite strict restrictions related to coronaviruses.
Tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews to the city of Ouman in central Ukraine, every new Jewish year, which falls from September 18 to 20 this year, to make a stop at the tomb of Rabbi Nahman, the founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement.
Kiev has banned foreigners from entering the country until the end of September due to an increase in coronavirus infections. Photo: Ukrainian Border Guard Service / Brochure
The believers left for Ouman this year even though the governments of Ukraine and Israel last month had suggested that they should not do so because of the global pandemic of Covid 19.
“We call on the Belarusian government to avoid creating more tension at the border,” said one member of the Ukrainian presidency.
Kiev said some 2,000 pilgrims, most of them from Israel, had accumulated at the border after “believing in rumors” that they would be allowed in.
Images of the Novi Yarylovychi border crossing where more than a thousand Hasidic Jews, adding children, who have sought a place of pilgrimage in Ukraine, are blocked on the country’s border with Belarus due to restrictions on coronaviruses. Photo: AFPTV / Maksym SALIY
Ukraine has banned foreigners from entering until the end of September due to an increase in coronavirus infections, however, pilgrims, from countries such as France, the United States and Israel, have tried to circumvent Belarusian restrictions.
Both sides said they would supply the large crowds, the pilgrims complained of having no blood and being hungry.
Map that locates the regions of Ukraine and a border crossing with Belarus, where many pilgrim Hasidic Jews are stranded at the border. Photo: AFP / PERSONAL
The head of Ukraine’s border guard, Sergiy Deyneko, addressed the pilgrims in a video posted Wednesday and said no one could enter the country.
“I respect their traditions and customs, but this year he will not come to Uman. I’m in a position to repeat it, if necessary, a thousand times,” he said.
The video shows a lot of classically dressed Hasidic Jews at the Novi Yarylovychi border crossing praying, singing and trying to convince Ukrainian border guards to make an exception.
Pilgrims have been trapped lately between the border crossings of Ukraine and Belarus after Minsk allowed them to do so Photo: Ukrainian Border Guard Service / Brochure
“We are in a position to deal with all coronavirus-related situations and mandates. Let us in!” read a handwritten sign transmitted by one of the believers in the video.
Ukrainian border guards dressed in shields looked, forming a cordon.
Pilgrims are lately among the border issues after the Belarusian allowed them to pass.
“At the moment, the stage does not allow more Hasidic Jews to enter Ukraine,” Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeniy Yenin told ukraina 24.
Belarusian officials said on Tuesday that more than 100 Israeli citizens were allowed to return to the country after being returned via Ukraine at the nearby crossing.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers have deployed in Ukraine, in the northern Chernigiv region, an AFP correspondent reported on site.
“There have been no provocations or tensions since yesterday,” Ukrainian border guard spokesman Demchenko said.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday called on his government to negotiate with Kiev to create a transit “corridor” and allow pilgrims to pass through holy sites in Ukraine.
The ties between Belarus and Ukraine have tightened since Lukashenko accused Kiev of sizing the political unrest and mass protests that erupted after last month’s disputed elections.
On Wednesday, Kiev said the August 9 presidential election in Belarus had been organized “in a dubious way. “
Up to 3,000 Hasidic Jews have come to Uman for the celebrations, local police said. Law enforcement agencies have tightened security near Rabbi Nachman’s grave where pilgrims gathered.
Ukraine has reported more than 162,000 coronaviruses and more than 3,340 deaths.