"Shalom, Orthodox Christians!": A Kyiv Resident Has Been Charged with Threatening Ukraine's Chief Rabbi

Law enforcement authorities in Kyiv have announced that a 44-year-old local resident is under suspicion of spreading radical messages and threats on social media. The suspect publicly threatened to kill the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine and also made aggressive remarks against law enforcement officers and Ukrainian military personnel. This was reported by the Kyiv Police on Facebook.

According to investigative materials published by the Kyiv Police, the man systematically posted content on his social media page that humiliated the honor and dignity of members of national minorities on the basis of religious intolerance. In addition to threatening the lives of religious leaders, the detainee called for the destruction of citizens’ property and openly expressed his intention to physically attack law enforcement officers.

The suspect’s actions were classified under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 2 of Article 129 (threat of murder motivated by religious intolerance) and Part 1 of Article 161 (violation of citizens’ equal rights based on their religious beliefs). If found guilty, the suspect faces a prison sentence of up to five years.

As a reminder, we previously reported that Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a bill establishing criminal liability for acts of anti-Semitism in the country.