Former Soviet Union

Former Prisoners of Zion, aliyah activists, discuss plans for new Soviet Jewry heritage center

Heritage Ministry Director-General Itay Grank presented the ministry’s vision for the center, which would introduce younger generations to the history of Soviet Jewry.

|ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Alex Silnitsky addresses a gathering of former Prisoners of Zion and aliyah activists at the Heritage Ministry in Jerusalem on October 5.
Israel’s election campaign is gathering pace, with the country’s political parties competing over the questions of security, leadership and the direction Israel takes after three years of war.

Israel picks between 'secular democracy or theocracy' in election, chess master Garry Kasparov says

"Just as Abraham Lincoln observed that the government could not persist 'half slave and half free,' Israel cannot go on half theocratic and half secular," Kasparov, whose father was Jewish, said.

|ByESTHER DAVIS
FROM LEFT: Vojtech Vodochodský, Stanislav Majer, and Tatiana Pauhofová in ‘Waves.’

‘Waves’ captures thrill and tragedy of resistance at Prague radio station in ’68 - review

Much of Waves is about the exhilaration of resisting, and how exciting it can be to give people the knowledge they need, which is being kept from them, to make their own decisions.

|ByHANNAH BROWN
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy takes part in a commemoration ceremony for the victims of Babyn Yar (Babiy Yar), one of the biggest single massacres of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv Ukraine September 29, 2022.

85 years later: Babyn Yar and the fight against deliberate erasure - opinion

On September 29 and 30, 1941, German forces, aided by local collaborators, murdered 33,771 Jews at Babyn Yar. In just two days, the lives of children, parents, and grandparents were cut short.

|ByREVITAL YAKIN KRAKOVSKY

Putin says Ukraine war is ending but the global order has already shifted - opinion

Ukraine war may be winding down, but its impact on global politics is already irreversible.

MAY 12, 2026ByLIRON ROSE
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a press conference in Moscow, Russia May 9, 2026.

In double trouble: Iran’s oil crisis – opinion

Given that the Islamic Republic’s lifeblood – oil – is being squeezed, it should learn from history that collapse always begins with a warning sign such as this one

MAY 11, 2026ByMIKE EVANS
A Satellite image shows a likely oil spill covering dozens of square kilometers near Iran’s Kharg Island, earlier this month.

Five Jewish couples marry in Brazil in front of 900 young Jews from former Soviet Union

The five couples were Ruslan and Esther (Anastasia), Eliezer (Evgeny) and Elena, Asher (Stanislav) and Malka (Alexandra), Meir (Mark) and Polina, and Netanel (Bogdan) and Michal (Veronica).

MAY 7, 2026ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
FIVE JEWISH couples get married in Brazil on Lag Ba'omer.

Ukraine marks 40 years since Chernobyl disaster amid war fears

Kyiv says Moscow has repeatedly sent missiles and drones on a flight path near the plant to attack Ukrainian cities, even damaging a critical protective shield in an attack last year.

APRIL 26, 2026ByREUTERS
A member of the Chornobyl nuclear plant staff places a candle at a memorial dedicated to firefighters and workers who died after the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster, during a night commemorative service to mark its 40th anniversary, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Slavutych, April 26, 2026.

New Russian space launch vehicle undergoing final tests, top official says

Plans call for the new two-stage rocket, capable of placing payloads of up to 17 metric tonnes in orbit, to be used in place of Zenit rockets.

APRIL 12, 2026ByREUTERS
FILE PHOTO: A Soyuz-2.1a rocket booster with a Progress MS-33 cargo spacecraft blasts off to the International Space Station (ISS) from the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan March 22, 2026.

Miracle in Sinaia: Israeli underdogs break Soviet chess dominance in 1965

In 1965, a group of Israeli amateurs shocked the Soviet chess elite, securing a moral victory in the Cold War arena. The "Miracle in Sinaia" remains a powerful symbol of Israeli resilience.

APRIL 5, 2026ByITAY GODER
Yedael Stepak is pictured above with his son Eran beside a chessboard.

Radiation still seeping from Soviet‑era titanium nuclear attack sub

Monitoring teams report elevated radiation levels in surrounding waters near the wreck site.

MARCH 24, 2026ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
A Soviet submarine.

Ilia II, Georgian Church leader who shaped national identity, dies at 93

Ilia II, the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia, died on Tuesday after being hospitalized, said senior cleric Metropolitan Shio.

MARCH 19, 2026ByREUTERS
People pay their last respects to Georgia's late Patriarch Ilia II as his remains are carried to the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, Georgia March 18, 2026.

New immigrant pharmacists face discrimination, lack of gov't support despite professional shortage

Mazarsky's comments follow the state's reluctance to accept over 170 qualified pharmacists who are intending to make aliyah in the coming year and have opened files with the Jewish Agency.

FEBRUARY 18, 2026ByAVIHAI CHIIM
Illustration photo of Super Pharm drug store and pharmacy at the Hadar mall in Jerusalem, on April 30, 2018.

Afghanistan marks Soviet withdrawal anniversary as Taliban rule draws global scrutiny

The Taliban’s governance remains deeply controversial. Since returning to power in 2021, the group has imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls and enforcing strict social rules.

FEBRUARY 16, 2026ByTHE MEDIA LINE STAFF
An Afghan Taliban fighter sit next to an anti-aircraft gun near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Spin Boldak, Kandahar Province, following exchanges of fire between Pakistani and Afghan forces in Afghanistan, October 15, 2025.