Holocaust Memorial Near Embattled Ukrainian City of Kharkiv Reportedly Damaged in Russian Shelling

A Holocaust memorial near the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv was reportedly damaged by Russian artillery shells on Saturday.

The menorah-shaped monument is located at Drobytsky Yar, a ravine where more than 15,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis in December 1941.

The memorial was inaugurated in 2002.

The Kharkiv area has seen heavy fighting in recent weeks amid Russia’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry blamed Moscow for Saturday’s incident, saying “Russian invaders fired on and damaged” the memorial.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba questioned why the memorial — a non-military target — was struck, noting it had “never threatened anyone.”

Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center issued a statement on Saturday saying it “deplores the continued devastation of Ukrainian cities and the loss of lives of innocent civilians, as well as the damage to historic memorial sites from the Shoah.”

Russia was previously condemned by many Jewish groups around the world after bombs fell close to the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial site in Kyiv during a March 1 airstrike in the Ukrainian capital.