ODESSA (VINnews) — A month after a man wielding an ax attacked his Ukrainian shul and after falling gravely ill with coronavirus, Rabbi Mendi Cohen, 39, the Rabbi of Mariopol, warns that the situation in the Ukraine is catastrophic and dangerous and people should not consider travelling to Uman this year.
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Rabbi Cohen, a father of three and a healthy man with no previous conditions, did not imagine that he would be in such grave condition, connected to oxygen and fighting for his life. He was lucky enough to be privately flown back to Israel to receive treatment which he could not get in the Ukraine and told Ynet from his hospital bed that “people travelling to Uman don’t understand that it is madly dangerous. There are no proper conditions there. I think that now my mission is to stand up and warn people and save lives.
“At least 150 Jews have died in the Ukraine. The medical situation is terrible. Doctors give families of sick people lists of medicines and they have to buy them themselves. There is a huge outbreak and doctors are not coping with the burden. There aren’t enough medicines and oxygen machines and therefore it is not recommended to come as it’s very dangerous.”
Cohen, who is slowly recovering from his serious bout of COVID-19, added that “there isn’t one room free in Odessa and they don’t have the equipment to deal with coronavirus patients. If somebody needs hospitalization he cannot receive treatment. The Ukraine is at the point Israel fears- the health system has collapsed, they can’t help anyone.”
This is happening in Odessa, the second largest city in the Ukraine. In smaller places the situation is much worse. Every day we hear about people sick with coronavirus who are sent home because there’s no way to help them.