“Putin is a broken record; if he wants to denazify let him start with Russia ”

Together with a group of volunteers, he traveled from kyiv to the affected areas to help with evacuations, many of them frustrated by the bombardments of the Russian troops. Equipped with a bulletproof vest, he recorded a video showing how Russian artillery fell on one of the evacuation points. He New York Times verified the images, which went around the world as proof of the war crimes that Russia is committing in Ukraine.

the rabbi Azman He is, today, one of the leaders of the Jewish community in the country. This represents one of the largest in the worldAlthough the number of Jews residing in the territory is between 250,000 and 360,000 people, according to the institution that calculates them. The religious man combines his duty as a rabbi with his work as coordinator of the NGO Mitzvah for Ukraine which he himself founded at the beginning of the war.

He was born 57 years ago in the Soviet Union. “In Leningrad, like Putin“, he details. For this reason, he says, when the Russian president launched his ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, “I did not want to believe that Russia, where I lived for my first 20 years, was attacking us.”

After studying for several years in Israel, Azman landed in the Ukrainian capital in 1995, when the restoration of kyiv Brodsky Synagogue, which served as a theater during Soviet times. From there, he now coordinates the humanitarian aid that is sent to different parts of the country, including the southern areas, where, he acknowledges, “the situation is critical.”

[Jersón, zona cero de la voladura de la presa: “Sólo conquistando Moscú pararemos a los rusos”]

What was he doing in Kherson during the floods?

We went to help. We took two boats, two Mitzvah vans, an amphibious Sherp jeep, and emergency kits, medicine, and food. When we unloaded everything, we went to a square that was no longer a square, but a lake. It was an area where the authorities only allowed evacuation groups, doctors or journalists to enter.

And there the bombings began.

As soon as I arrived, I saw people throw themselves to the ground. I understood that the Russians were attacking us from the other side of the river. We had become their target, because they were shooting directly at the evacuation point. The first explosion was not very strong because it hit the water. But then more came. I decided to record, in English, what was happening to denounce it to the world, but I had to stop. They started shooting, one after another. We moved, advanced and crouched. The bombs fell very close.

Was scared?

The situation became quite dangerous, but what I experienced is something specific. For many people it is daily bread. I don’t know, maybe after the war I’ll write a book [se ríe]But the ones to pay attention to now are those who continue to risk their lives to help others on a daily basis.

His organization provides humanitarian aid throughout Ukraine. Why do you go on missions yourself?

For two reasons. First, to talk to people and see with my own eyes what is really needed. To avoid what happened to us a few months ago, when a donation arrived, a truck with only one type of medicine that nobody needed. And second, I’m going to make sure nothing gets lost along the way and nobody steals it.

Have there been robberies?

Not many, but sometimes it happens. I remember, a long time ago, that food began to disappear from one of the logistics centers and we had to set up security.

How is the aid financed?

Thanks to donations. Most come from Israel, but also from Europe. Now our efforts are focused on getting resources for Kherson. To other areas of the front, such as Mykolaiv, where the infrastructures have been badly damaged, we have brought Israeli machines to convert water from the air into drinking water with the capacity to generate 900 liters every 24 hours. We are trying to raise $80,000 to bring 10 machines.

How was the Mitzvah organization for Ukraine born?

It was born from the Biblical command that says “don’t stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds.” The start of the war caught me in Anatevka, on the outskirts of kyiv, near Bucha and Irpin, where in 2014 we had created a refugee village for the Jewish community. When the Russian tanks and helicopters began to arrive, we quickly understood that, due to its strategic location, the village could be an operations center from which to coordinate humanitarian efforts to supply food, blankets, etc. In the first days of the invasion, our central synagogue in kyiv also became a great refuge for thousands of people, Jews or not. We helped with the mass evacuation of more than 40,000 people across the border with Moldova.

What is your priority as Chief Rabbi?

My priority is that God puts me in the right place at the right time. The Torah says that when you have people who are suffering you should pull yourself together and help where you can. So my obligation and priority is to act and save people.

To justify the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeated on numerous occasions that his goal is to “denazify Ukraine”.

It’s like a broken record. A song that has been playing for a long time. Russia does not have to denazify the world, but itself. If she wants to denazify, let her start with herself. On television, in speeches, Putin claims to be anti-fascists and calls everyone a Nazi: Europe, Spain, the United States… even you are a fascist. But in reality, it is the Russians who are doing the same as the Nazis.

Where do you think that narrative comes from?

From the memory of the Second World War. The Russian government says it wants to repeat in Ukraine the victory of that time, which was not even a victory for the Soviet Union against the Nazis, but the victory of a coalition of international brigades. It doesn’t have any logic. Ukraine was a democratic country before the war: there was freedom of speech, freedom of religion… freedom, freedom, freedom. Since the dissolution of the USSR, we have functioned as a real and independent country. What’s more, four years ago 73% of the population chose Volodimir Zelenski as president, what a Jew!

Is there antisemitism in Ukraine?

Antisemitism exists in all countries, but I would venture to say that here it is even lower than in Russia. If we were ruled by Nazis, the Jews would not have lived calmly and comfortably for the last 30 years. The Russian authorities make their own citizens believe that a denazification is taking place, but it is curious that what they have devastated above all are peaceful towns where the majority of them speak Russian, such as Kharkov or Mariupol.

In whose hands do you think it is to put an end to this war?

Ukraine will win with God’s help. Everyone, governments, secret services, etc. They thought that we would not resist for more than a week, but we Ukrainians have resisted. We have a very strong and united army. But I think it is in the hands of the West, whom I want to thank for their support, help us more. My request is that you do not forget or get tired of Ukraine, because here people are not fighting only for their family or their country, but for Western values. We too are Europe and this is not just a war in Ukraine.

At the start of the conflict, Israel took a neutral position in the war. However, in recent months it seems to have changed its position (albeit not officially) and increased its support for Ukraine. Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, for example, visited kyiv in February. You were with him.

I was in Israel before the elections and met Benjamin Netanyahu three times before he became prime minister again. I also met with the leaders of the coalition parties that were in the previous government. I told everyone that I understood that Israel was being blackmailed by Russia in Syria for the joint fight against Hezbollah, but that they needed to help Ukraine more. Then the rules of the game changed when Iran, which has openly said it wants to destroy the Jewish state and the Jewish people, became one of Russia’s main partners. The drones that bomb kyiv and other cities every night are Iranian. You just have to see who is now a friend of Russia: Iran, Syria, North Korea, Belarus… countries where there are no human rights. Helping Ukraine is our human obligation and as Jews we must contribute to stop the genocide that Russia is committing against the Ukrainian people. But it is also that Israel is greatly interested.