Ukraine has one of the largest Jewish populations in the world. But as Russia invades the Eastern European nation this week, the country’s Jews—as they so often find themselves—are getting caught in the middle.

Within 24 hours of the invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared his intention to “de-Nazify” Ukraine, despite Ukraine having a Jewish president and being a generally safe country for Jews. Meanwhile, Jews in Ukrainian cities like Uman worry the war may exacerbate pre-existing tensions between the local Hasidic community and their non-Jewish neighbours. Yet in the broader scheme of things, any aftershocks for Jews—and even Ukraine itself—may simply be incidental to Putin’s long-term plan, which is to recapture the glory, and territory, of the former Soviet Union.

To help understand the Jewish component to the ongoing conflict, as well as how Israel fits into all this, the hosts of Bonjour Chai, our weekly current affairs podcast, are joined by two guests of Jewish Russian descent: Semyon Dovzhik (@semyondovzhik), a freelance journalist in Toronto, and Ruty Korotaev (@rutykorotaev), a graduate student at the Centre for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, who specializes in Russian media and disinformation.

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Credits

Bonjour Chai is hosted by Avi Finegold, Ilana Zackon and David Sklar. Michael Fraiman is the producer. Andre Goulet is the technical producer. Our theme music is by Socalled. The show is a co-production from The Jewish Learning Lab and The CJN, and is distributed by The CJN Podcast Network. Find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.