Former Soviet Union

The war in Israel is in a lull, but Jewish soldiers are still fighting in Ukraine

Chernetsky says he continued fighting so that no one would say that Jews didn't fight.

One of the Jewish soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Kazbek Kokov, head of the North Caucasus region of Kabardino-Balkaria, in Moscow, Russia December 16, 2025.

Putin establishes Soviet genocide memorial day, erasing Jewish victims of Nazis

 FILE PHOTO: Protesters shout slogans during a demonstration following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, in Istanbul, Turkey, October 2, 2022.

Protests shake Iran: The US must choose its next move wisely - opinion

Then-President Shimon Peres (L) and then-president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev raise a toast at the reception at the President’s Residence in Astana during Peres’s visit to Kazakhstan in 2009.

Stan’s the name: Inside Israel’s growing partnerships across Central Asia


Robert Hanssen, FBI agent who spied for Russia, found dead in prison

Hanssen, 79, was sentenced in 2002 to life in prison after pleading guilty to spying for the Soviet Union and later Russia for over 20 years.

 Robert Hanssen, a former FBI agent deemed a traitor by the government Undated handout photo of former FBI agent Robert Hanssen

American Jews need a Soviet-style activist defense org. - opinion

In using public protests and street demonstrations to attract notice, Soviet Jewish activists changed Jewish history.

 AVITAL AND Natan Sharansky, reunited after 12 years, smile during an airport news conference upon his arrival in Israel, in 1986. The dynamic for Soviet Jewry changed with the founding of SSSJ, says the writer.

Former Soviet Union nations have no legal status - Chinese ambassador

A French official said on Monday that Shaye will receive a "very firm" update at the French Foreign Ministry on Monday.

 Man carrying a Soviet Union flag.

Paris, Kyiv, Baltic states dismayed after China envoy questions Ukraine sovereignty

The three Baltic states and Ukraine, all formerly part of the Soviet Union, reacted along the same lines as France.

 Chinese Ambassador in France Lu Shaye attends the MEDEF union summer forum renamed La Rencontre des Entrepreneurs de France, LaREF, at the Paris Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, August 29, 2019.

551 Holocaust survivors made aliyah in 2022; 52,513 made aliyah in total

The high number of Holocaust survivors who made aliyah to Israel in 2022 is mainly due to the war in Ukraine.

 Nine Holocaust survivors rescued from the war in Ukraine arrive on a rescue flight, at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, April 27, 2022.

SSY: Helping Russian-speaking olim integrate into Israel

For the past 12 years, SSY has been creating welcoming educational and empowering communities throughout Israel that remind young Russian-speaking olim of the reasons why they made aliyah.

 Young Russian-speaking volunteers help newer immigrants navigate life in Israel. Hedva Agapova, SSY Jerusalem Volunteer Coordinator, with Linda Pardes Friedburg

Passover: Former Soviet Union Jews finding freedom in Israel

Do Jews who come to Israel find inner freedom or do they become hostages of the situation? I spoke with Jews from the post-Soviet Union who have recently made aliyah.

 A woman points to her relatives’ names on the memorial wall at Yad Vashem on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

US Jews don't recognize the impact of Russian immigrants on Israel

The stories of these human rights legends, who have profoundly influenced Israeli society, politics, and American Jewry, are underestimated.

 Google co-founder Sergey Brin at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos in 2017.

Russia to produce, modernize over 1,600 tanks - Putin

Russia claims that the United States is currently producing 14,000-15,000 shells every month. They believe that the US will be producing up to 75,000 shells by 2025.

 A tank of pro-Russian troops drives along a road near burnt-out residential buildings in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 5, 2022.

Diaspora Week: Questions to ask about Jews from the former Soviet Union - opinion

This complex migration picture has presented the state of Israel, European and American Jewry, as well as regional and international Jewish organizations with complex questions.

 ALIYAH AND INTEGRATION Minister Ofir Sofer takes over from Pnina Tamano-Shata at a handover ceremony at the ministry, in Jerusalem, on January 1. ‘Is Israel ready to accept new waves of olim?’