The Ukrainian government said some 2,000 more people accumulated on the border with Belarus in hopes of traveling to the Ukrainian city of Ouman to the tomb of a prominent Hasidic rabbi who died in 1810, Nachman of Breslov.
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews make a stopover in the city every September for Rosh Hashaná, the Jewish New Year, which takes place from 18 to 20 September this year, and some pilgrims had controlled to succeed in Ulain before Ukraine closed its borders in late August amid an increase in COVID-19 infections. Thousands more traveled through Belarus, which did not prevent him from entering foreign climbers.
On Thursday, the head of Ukraine’s interior ministry, Mykhailo Apostol, reiterated that pilgrims would be allowed to cross the border.
“Ukraine has closed its borders to foreigners and no exclusions will be made for TheRsedic pilgrims,” Apostol told reporters. “It is and we recommend that you return to Belarus, buy tickets and come home. “
Israel’s Higher Education Minister Zeev Elkin tweeted Thursday that efforts to bring pilgrims to Ukraine had failed and asked them to return to Israel.
At one point, dozens of Jasidic pilgrims dressed in classic Ukrainian Sessack costumes sang the Ukrainian national anthem and shouted “Glory to Ukraine!”in an obvious way to melt the hearts of the authorities.
As thousands of pilgrims moved for days in no man’s land between Belarus and Ukraine, some in makeshift tents and others on the ground, Ukraine and Belarus faced stagnation.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s presidential workplace accused the Belarusian government of sending misleading signals to pilgrims that they would eventually be allowed to cross the border. Belarusian officials retaliated, accusing Ukraine of “inhumane” remedy for pilgrims, and showed up to supply buses to take pilgrims to Ouman and return to Belarus.
Ukraine’s president said Wednesday that Belarusian government movements could have their origins in the most recent tensions between the two neighbors following Belarus’s questionable presidential election.
Ukraine joined the United States and the European Union in criticizing the nine-August vote, in which President Alexander Lukashenko extended his authoritarian rule for 26 years as neither lax nor fair, and suggested the Belarusian government end its crackdown on protesters.
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Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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