Former Soviet Union

Former Prisoners of Zion, aliyah activists, discuss plans for new Soviet Jewry heritage center

Heritage Ministry Director-General Itay Grank presented the ministry’s vision for the center, which would introduce younger generations to the history of Soviet Jewry.

Alex Silnitsky addresses a gathering of former Prisoners of Zion and aliyah activists at the Heritage Ministry in Jerusalem on October 5.
Israel’s election campaign is gathering pace, with the country’s political parties competing over the questions of security, leadership and the direction Israel takes after three years of war.

Israel picks between 'secular democracy or theocracy' in election, chess master Garry Kasparov says

FROM LEFT: Vojtech Vodochodský, Stanislav Majer, and Tatiana Pauhofová in ‘Waves.’

‘Waves’ captures thrill and tragedy of resistance at Prague radio station in ’68 - review

 Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy takes part in a commemoration ceremony for the victims of Babyn Yar (Babiy Yar), one of the biggest single massacres of Jews during the Nazi Holocaust, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv Ukraine September 29, 2022.

85 years later: Babyn Yar and the fight against deliberate erasure - opinion


Herzog: Israel must do more for immigrants from the Former Soviet Union

The event, a salute to FJC’s network of schools, synagogues, and youth programs across the former Soviet space, featured personal testimony illustrating the stakes for families uprooted by conflict.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog at an event hosted by the Federation of Jewish Communities (FJC) of the Former Soviet Union in Jerusalem, November 8, 2025.

Wisdom of strength: How Azerbaijan turned military victory into peace - opinion

Azerbaijan liberated Karabakh in a decisive military victory, but at what cost?

A general view shows the town of Agdam, controlled by Azerbaijani arms forces, in the region of Karabakh, Azerbaijan November 24, 2020.

New pro-Israel org. aims to expose antizionism as a rising hate threat - interview

Adam Louis-Klein’s Movement Against Antizionism (MAAZ) calls for a paradigm shift, identifying antizionism as a hate movement that endangers Jewish communities through dangerous narratives and libels.

Demonstrators attend a pro-Palestinian protest on the day of the two-year anniversary of the attack on Israel by Hamas, in New York City, U.S., October 7, 2025.

Kyrgyzstan launches national stablecoin in partnership with Binance

A5A7, a stablecoin backed by the Russian rouble and based in Kyrgyzstan, has been placed under sanctions by Western governments who say it is used to facilitate avoidance of sanctions on Russia.

Representations of Binance coin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration taken September 10, 2025

Polar bears take over abandoned research station in Russian Arctic

Scientists left the research station, which is in an abandoned village, soon after the Soviet Union's collapse over three decades ago.

A polar bear reacts at the abandoned Soviet-era research station on Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea, in Russia's far northeast, September 14, 2025, in this still image taken from a drone video.

Moldovans vote in high-stakes parliamentary election, authorities warn of Russian interference

Power in the former Soviet republic has swung for decades between pro-European and pro-Russian groups.

A woman votes as members of a local electoral commission visit her home during Moldova's parliamentary elections in the town of Durlesti, Moldova September 28, 2025.

In Moldova, Jewish life is fueled by descendants of those who fled - and refugees from Ukraine

Moldova’s Jews are aging, with many people leaving and few babies being born. The country currently has two functioning Jewish schools and seven synagogues.

Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova.

Transnistria’s Jews find themselves caught in a Soviet time warp as Ukraine war rages next door

In Novokatovsk, Israeli farmer Or Cohen and his family face poverty and war on the Ukrainian border. Their story reveals the challenges of life in Transnistria, where Jewish life is slowly fading.

Israeli-born Or Cohen stands with his Ukrainian wife, Anya, and their 3-year-old son Adam, in the backyard of their farmhouse in Novokatovsk, a Transnistrian village right on the border with Ukraine, June 2025.

Her Jewish grandfather’s shame inspired a prize-winning novel

Sasha Vasilyuk's debut novel, “Your Presence Is Mandatory,” won the $100,000 prize for a story inspired by her father’s father, a Jewish soldier in the Red Army.

Sasha Vasilyuk’s novel, "Your Presence Is Mandatory," was inspired by the story of her grand­fa­ther, right, a Sovi­et World War II sol­dier who nev­er talked about the war.

After decades of conflict, Armenia-Azerbaijan peace plan gives Caucasus Jews new hope

Jews in both countries could benefit after countries signed documents to end 35-year-long hostilities which have defined relations between the two nations.

Armenian girls study Jewish religious texts under the direction of Rabbi Gershon Meir Burshtein in Yerevan.