In Ukraine, a Hasidic Jew returning to Israel after a pilgrimage to Uman was subjected to forced mobilization

In Ukraine, following a pilgrimage to Uman, a 49-year-old Israeli citizen and Hasidic Jew, Yonatan Karlinsky-Mashek, was forcibly mobilized by TRC personnel. The man, who holds Israeli citizenship, was removed from a bus while crossing the border into Romania.

According to , citing a source, Yonatan Karlinsky-Mashek, who was born in Ukraine but moved to Israel about 14 years ago, was returning from Uman after celebrating Rosh Hashanah. During the border check, law enforcement officers suspected he held Ukrainian citizenship after noting that he spoke Ukrainian fluently. This served as grounds for his detention as a Ukrainian citizen subject to military service.

After the incident, contact with Karlinsky-Mashek was lost. The detainee’s relatives and friends sought assistance from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. According to available information, the man may have been sent to a military base in the Odesa region to undergo mobilization procedures; however, his exact whereabouts remain unknown at this time.

As a reminder, it was previously reported that the Stryi City and District Court in Lviv Oblast had convicted a man who fled military service after being mobilized, citing his religious beliefs. The defendant, a member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, , was found guilty of desertion and sentenced to five years in prison.