Chabad centers in Kfar Chabad, Israel, in Dnipro, Ukraine, and in Brooklyn, New York, have activated dozens of Russian-speaking volunteers to staff emergency hotlines and connect the Jews of Ukraine with evacuation assistance, food, housing, or medical assistance.
When the scope of the operation grew in response to the worsening conditions, Magen David Adom sent a high-tech Mobile Command and Control Center to Kfar Chabad. Housed in a transformed Winnebago, the mobile command center contains advanced equipment, including tracking systems and satellite communications to reach areas where standard communication networks have been knocked out. It is used by MDA to operate in the field during disasters and wars.
“Magen David Adom, as the Israeli Red Cross, operates this international center together with Chabad emissaries and will continue to support those in the war zone,” said Eli Bin, director-general of Magen David Adom.
“I hope that the use of these advanced technologies will provide the aid the Ukrainian people need and help them reach safe shores.”
The volunteers are working closely with Israel’s government agencies and non-governmental organizations to arrange food, transportation, and other assistance to those still in Ukraine.
“Chabad has been at the front lines of the effort to assist Ukrainian Jews since the beginning,” says Rabbi Shlomo Peles, Chabad’s point man spearheading the relief effort from Israel, along with Rabbi Yehuda Blau. “We are working around the clock for Ukraine’s Jews.”
