Ukrainian Foreign Minister: “Thanks to Chabad Shluchim . . .”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko was in Israel yesterday, on an official visit. Accompanying him was Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzki, Chabad-Lubavitch representative to Dnepropetrovsk.

Mr. Lev Leviev, President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the Former Soviet Union hosted the foreign minister at a reception. Also present were the Ukrainian ambassador to Israel, and Israel’s ambassador to the Ukraine, Ms. Naomi ben Ami.

At the reception, Mr. Leviev put forth a number of requests to enhance the life for Jews living in the Ukraine. Mr. Gryschenko recalled that when he served as ambassador to the U.S., he would often be grilled with questions about the conditions of Jews living in the Ukraine. “I could always say with confidence that in the Ukraine, our Jewish population enjoys Jewish schools, synagogues and soup kitchens thanks to Chabad-Lubavitch shluchim.”