Jewish Mayor Shot in Ukraine Spurned Pro-Russia Separatists
Image by city of kharkiv
The mayor of Ukraine’s second biggest city was shot in the back on Monday, the highest profile assassination attempt in eastern Ukraine since a standoff between Moscow and Kiev began two months ago.
Gennady Kernes underwent two hours of surgery after the attack in Kharkiv, one eastern city where police have managed to dislodge pro-Moscow rebels. Surgeon Valery Boiko said his life would hang in the balance for the next few days.
Kernes, 54, went into politics after making his fortune in the gangster-ridden post-communist 1990s.
After protesters toppled pro-Moscow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich in February, he supported calls for Kharkiv to become independent from Kiev’s new, pro-European leaders.
But he changed his views after being accused of fomenting separatism and when Ukrainian police forced pro-Russian protesters out of administrative buildings in the city.
Iryna Kushchenko, spokeswoman for the local government, said Kernes was either riding his bicycle or jogging when he was shot by someone probably hidden in nearby woods. His bodyguards were following in a car but were not close enough to intervene.
Ukraine’s deputy interior minister, Serhiy Yarovy, said they were investigating whether the shooting was in retaliation for the detention of 13 pro-Russian separatists on Sunday on charges of possession of petrol bombs, explosives and nails.
“One of the main versions (of events) is whether it was the reaction of separatists to recent events in Kharkiv,” he said.
Kernes is one of Ukraine’s most prominent Jewish politicians who according to his official biography started out working for state enterprises in the city before embarking on a series of business ventures including gas trading.
His friend, Mykhailo Dobkin, a candidate in Ukraine’s presidential election on May 25, said investigators had found the bullet casing and were pursuing various leads.
“If I knew who did it, I wouldn’t be standing here now. I would have my hands round his throat,” he told journalists.
Kernes, who accumulated substantial wealth before entering politics, has declined to talk about his past.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
