“You are freezing people. You are dooming them to perish” – from freezing Kyiv, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Moshe Asman addressed Putin’s “liberators”

The Chief Rabbi of Kyiv and Ukraine Moshe Reuven Asman emotionally addressed Putin’s so-called “liberators” and published a video message on his social networks.

In his speech, he speaks not as a politician, but as a person, the son of a blockade survivor, as a spiritual leader who sees the suffering of peaceful people — the elderly, children, families left without heat, light, and water in the middle of winter. His words are a direct accusation against those who destroy civilian infrastructure and doom people to cold and despair.

Understanding that a significant part of the Israeli audience does not speak Russian (or simply does not watch the video), we have made a full transcription of this address and publish it in our article so that the meaning and pain of these words are heard and understood here in Israel.

Text of Moshe Asman’s address:

“I am now in the center of the hero city of Kyiv, in the very heart of Ukraine.
There is a severe frost outside.

In many homes, there is no electricity, heating, and water.
People — the elderly, small children, women — live in unheated apartments where the temperature drops to dangerous levels.
It’s terrifying.

I involuntarily recall what my father told me.
He survived the blockade of Leningrad as a child.
He told about all its horrors — the terrible hunger, raids, daily bombings.

But besides that, there was also the fierce cold.
The winter was unbearable.
People could not warm up in their homes.
They died not only from hunger but also from the cold.

I never thought that these memories from my childhood would one day come to life here in Kyiv — in a city that was once already attacked and occupied by German fascists.
And today, those who hide behind slogans about “denazification of Ukraine” actually act exactly like the German-fascist occupiers.
They deliberately destroy infrastructure, as was done during the blockade of Leningrad, dooming people to death from hunger and cold.

Today in Kyiv, people — grandmothers and grandfathers — are in these conditions.
Our volunteers see it with their own eyes.
I myself was there, in a high-rise building without an elevator.
There is no water supply, it’s cold there.

People cannot go out, cannot buy food, cannot warm up.
They need medicine.

And all this is happening because Russian planes, missiles, and drones systematically attack Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, deliberately killing peaceful people.

Recently in Kyiv, rescuers came to repair a heating station — they were hit by a missile strike.
Before that, medics came to save and treat people — and they were also hit by missiles.
This is a crime against humanity.

And therefore, I appeal to those who still have a sense and ability to think, and not just watch Russian television.
You are now committing the same crime that the German fascist invaders once committed against the peoples of the Soviet Union.
This is the same evil.

You are freezing people.
You are dooming them to death.

I am proud to be here, on this side — with the heroic Ukrainian people.
A people who are not ready to surrender, not ready to go into slavery, not ready to lose their culture, their country, and their land.
They fight — and inspire admiration.

And those who came only to kill and deprive people of warmth, light, and life are on the side of darkness.
But light will definitely overcome darkness.

I pray that people survive this winter.
That they do not die.
That children do not suffer and do not get sick.
That the sick recover.
Hospitals also suffer, and we help as much as we can.

Our volunteers will continue to help.
Light will definitely prevail.
Good will triumph over evil.

And those who commit evil will dissolve into oblivion.

Glory to God and glory to Ukraine.”

That is why we considered it important to document this address not in fragments and not in retelling, but in full — as a document of the time, as the voice of a person who speaks about the war not abstractly, but from within human pain and historical memory. For the Israeli audience, who do not always have access to such testimonies directly, this transcription is a way to hear and understand what is happening today in Ukraine, beyond dry reports and headlines.

By publishing this text, NAnews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency fulfill their task: to convey context, preserve testimonies, and connect Israeli society with a reality that cannot be ignored.