(JNS) An unidentified group of vandals painted a swastika on the monument honoring the father of Jewish literature, Sholem Aleichem, according to a report posted on Sunday night, Nov. 24, by Chief Rabbi of Ukraine and Kiev, Moshe Reuven Asman, on his Facebook page. It is yet another case of antisemitism in Ukraine in the past several weeks. In September, for instance, unidentified criminals desecrated a monument dedicated to the Jews who perished in a massacre in Bogdanoka village in the Nikolayev region.

The attackers this week spray-painted a swastika in red and left a note with threats to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky; former transportation minister Yevgeny Chervonenko; and head of Ukrainian Jewish Committee Eduard Dolinsky.

Haim Ben-Yakov, CEO of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, addressed the Ukrainian government, saying “to our great dismay, recently we have been witnessing an increasing number of antisemitic incidents all across Ukraine. The country’s law-enforcement agencies must do everything possible to find and prosecute the criminals. Desecration of monuments is an alarming symptom of a troubling condition, which can develop into a more acute form.” 

On Nov. 27, Kiev hosted the first Summit of Euroasian Jewry, bringing hundreds of Jewish leaders from across the region together for the first time.