On Thursday, October 29, 2026, representatives of the 31st Border Detachment of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine came to the Chernivtsi synagogue with a certificate of gratitude. The Jewish community of Bukovina, with the support of sponsors, has already transferred money for equipment to counter Russian drones. The military showed the acquired devices to the chief rabbi of the region, Menachem Mendel Glickstein. Now the equipment must be sent to the place of service.
Material by Elena Gunko for NANews.
This is stated in the community’s message and its bulletin dated October 30, titled “Help that Saves Lives.” The cost of the purchase, the brands of the devices, and the exact place of their future application are not named. Therefore, calling them electronic warfare means or claiming that they already protect soldiers would be premature.
Bukovina: why the border guards needed help
Chernivtsi is a city in southwestern Ukraine, the historical center of Bukovina with a large Jewish tradition. It is far from the main sections of the front, but the local community has not distanced itself from the war. In its appeal, it listed previous assistance to the military: food, clothing, hygiene products. This time, the money went to anti-drone equipment.
“May it serve to save lives!” — “Let it serve to save lives,” the community wrote. The appeal ended with a prayer:
“May the Almighty bless our defenders and all of us! Amen!”
The word “border guards” can be misleading. During the war, the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service does not limit itself to checking passports at checkpoints: its armed units participate in the defense of the country. But neither the community nor the military reported on which section the purchase would be used. In the photograph from the synagogue, a certificate and equipment are visible, but it is impossible to determine its characteristics from the picture.
Chernivtsi and Kyiv: who else helps the military
In November 2025, students, parents, and teachers of the Jewish Lyceum No. 15 “ORT” in Chernivtsi collected warm clothes, medical supplies, hygiene products, and children’s letters for Ukrainian fighters on the Pokrovsk direction. Pokrovsk is a city in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, around which battles are taking place. NANews has already reported on this help from the lyceum students.
In March 2026, the local community, “Hesed Leah,” and the editorial office of the Czernowitzer Zeitung participated in helping women and children of deceased, captured, and missing military personnel. At a meeting organized by the “Together Forward” charitable foundation with the participation of “Vir-Svit,” creative activities were arranged for the families. “Hesed” is a traditional name for Jewish community charitable assistance. Here it was directed to Ukrainian families regardless of origin.
Kyiv resident Igor (Yaakov David) Tish has served in two armies: first in the IDF, then in the Armed Forces of Ukraine after the Russian invasion in 2022. In September 2024, he was severely injured in a drone attack, covering two comrades, and lost half of his left arm. Friends in Ukraine, Israel, and the USA raised money for prosthetics. His friend Akiva Alexander Gilgur, an engineer and head of the Karlin-Stolin Jewish community in Kyiv, is engaged in the development of drones and means of protection against them. NANews previously published their story.
Yaakov Sinyakov, a rabbi, officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and military chaplain cooperating with the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, also visits the front. In September 2026, he delivered humanitarian aid and holiday kits for Sukkot to fighters on the eastern direction, held conversations and prayers. He works with military personnel of different faiths. Israelis are familiar with the task of a military rabbi from the IDF experience, although the Ukrainian chaplaincy service is organized differently.
Why this story is important to Israel
On October 27, 2026, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel is studying the Ukrainian experience of using drones and countering them. He spoke about the threat of Iranian drones and investments in Israeli developments. But this is not evidence of Israeli origin of the equipment purchased for the border guards in Chernivtsi: there is no such data.
Russia has been waging war against Ukraine since 2014; after the invasion on February 24, 2022, it became full-scale. The community bulletin already speaks of the fifth year of this war. Ukrainian Jews help their army, the wounded, the families of the deceased, and children; some serve themselves. Many have relatives and friends in Israel, but Ukraine is not a foreign country to them. The last known message about the purchase is dated October 31: there is no confirmation of the delivery of the equipment to the positions yet.
In the Chernivtsi synagogue on October 29, the military thanked not for words of support, but for a specific acquisition. The chief rabbi received a certificate, the border guards showed the equipment, and the community prayed for the defenders. Now the main thing is that these devices really help save their lives.