Image by getty images

Two members from the same Jewish family were killed in shelling in the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk.

The victims of the July 18 explosion were identified on the website of the Jewish community of Lugansk as Svetlana and Anna Sitnikov.

“They stood at a crosswalk with other civilians and just walked into a store,” the announcement read. One of the victims had a four-year-old son, Vadim Sitnikov, the website said.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The news site ch10.co.il reported Sunday that Rabbi Shlomo Gopin, Chabad’s emissary to Lugansk, was trying to bring the deceased to burial but that city officials had not yet authorized the event.

Gopin was not immediately available for comment.

Lugansk is among a number of cities in eastern Ukraine where the government is fighting pro-Russian separatists who took up arms after the ousting late February of former president Viktor Yanukovych in a revolution that erupted in November over his alleged corruption and close ties with the Kremlin in Russia.

Since fighting erupted, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Community of Dnepropetrovsk have helped more than 650 flee battle zones in eastern Ukraine, settling them in community institutions or providing alternative housing solutions in addition to food, medicine and counseling to help children cope with trauma.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount