Ukraine urges Jewish pilgrims to turn back

Ukraine on has warned thousands of Hasidic Jewish pilgrims who have been stuck on its border for days that it won’t allow them into the country due to coronavirus restrictions.

Ukrainian authorities said about 2,000 people have gathered at the border with Belarus, in hope of travelling to the Ukrainian city of Uman to visit the grave of an important Hasidic rabbi who died in 1810, Nachman of Breslov.

Thousands of the ultraOrthodox Jews visit the city each September for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year.

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry official Mykhailo Apostol reaffirmed that the pilgrims will not be allowed to cross the border.

“Ukraine has shut its borders to foreigners, and no exclusions will be made for the Hasidic pilgrims,” Apostol told reporters.