“They are not Nazis” – Chief Rabbi defends Bratstvo before Israel

Chief Rabbi of Ukraine and Dmytro Korchynsky. Photo: screenshot from Moshe Asman's Facebook

Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi met with Bratstvo [Brotherhood] leader Dmytro Korchynsky to personally clarify the situation surrounding the June 21 protest. According to Rabbi Moshe Azman, the video that drew the diplomats’ outrage had nothing to do with that event.

“This concerns underage provocateurs who were likely used by Russian special services, which are interested in such provocations and may have paid them money,” the religious leader wrote on Facebook.

Moshe Azman has already spoken with Israeli Ambassador Michael Brodsky to ease tensions.

“I explained that the embassy team had been misled,” the rabbi stressed, expressing hope that law enforcement would identify the real organizers of the provocation.

During the meeting, Dmytro Korchynsky said his organization is, above all, a religious community.

“Nazi aesthetics are not the aesthetics of Bratstvo. Our people read the Psalms, not Mein Kampf,” he said.

He added that Ukrainian patriots regard Nazism and communism as equally “abhorrent” ideologies.

Moshe Azman separately confirmed that Bratstvo members respect all nations and confessions, and that Korchynsky himself is “deeply grateful” for Israel’s assistance.

On June 24, 2026, the Israeli Embassy protested the use of Nazi gestures by Bratstvo participants. The embassy insisted that during an event on Independence Square in Kyiv, Bratstvo activists shouted Nazi greetings and displayed the Nazi salute, and called on law enforcement agencies to respond to the incident in accordance with the law.

As the UOJ reported, the Chief Rabbi spoke with a U.S. State Department official about religious freedom in Ukraine.

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