A Jewish serviceman of the Ukrainian army named Haim was wounded in the head during artillery shelling on the Donetsk front. His comrade, who was nearby, was killed. Haim himself took six hours to reach his own before getting to military medics.
Author: Stas Shifer, NANews
He is now undergoing rehabilitation. And his fate became known thanks to a person from Norway, whose life has been connected with Israel and Ukrainian Jews for many years.
On October 22, 2026, the Kyiv Jewish community in Obolon reported on visiting the wounded serviceman.
Six hours to reach his own
The community does not disclose the details of the battle itself. It is known that Haim participated in a combat mission on the Donetsk front when his unit came under Russian artillery fire.
The head injury caused problems with his eye. How seriously his vision was affected and what prognosis the doctors give is unknown. The community reports that Haim remains hopeful for recovery.
Representatives of the Obolon synagogue came to the wounded. They brought a kosher meal, talked to him. Rabbi Shalom Gopin helped the serviceman put on tefillin — special prayer boxes with Torah texts that are attached to the arm and head during the morning Jewish prayer.
The community promised to take Haim under its care and help him in the future.
The surname of the serviceman, his age, unit, date of injury, and the name of the deceased comrade have not been published. There is no independent confirmation of the circumstances of the battle yet.
NANews has already reported on Jewish soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including those who lost comrades or were injured themselves. Haim’s story has joined this series.
Arvid Bjerga: from a Norwegian home to an Israeli kibbutz
The community learned about Haim from a Norwegian Arvid Bjerga. And his biography deserves separate attention.
Bjerga grew up in a family of Christian Zionists. Back in the late 1980s, he lived and worked in a kibbutz in northern Israel, was interested in the history of the Jewish people, Ethiopian Jews, and the Bnei Menashe communities.
In 2018, during another visit to Israel, he met Michael Freund, the founder of the organization Shavei Israel, which helps people with Jewish roots reconnect with tradition and Israel.
Subsequently, Bjerga created its Norwegian branch. Shavei Israel published his biography back in August 2020. The organization SHAVEI ISRAEL, NORGE is indeed present in the Norwegian state register.
In Norway, Bjerga spoke to a Christian and pro-Israel audience, talked about anti-Semitism, the history of Jews, and the return of Jewish communities to their roots.
But another story is particularly interesting.
The Norwegian organization Beit Skandinavia, which has a house in Haifa, told how Bjerga helped two brothers from Ukraine — Andrey and Oleg Akselrods. According to the published story, he met one on the street, found the other in an orphanage.
He helped both get to Israel. The brothers served in the IDF and later started families. Andrey moved to Norway, Oleg stayed in Israel. When both parents in Oleg’s family were on military service, Bjerga looked after their three children for four months.
There is another Israeli connection. In February 2023, Bjerga participated in a visit of a Norwegian delegation to Jerusalem. He also represented the initiative of twinning relations between Stavanger and Netanya.
Now, thanks to him, another Jewish family received help — this time it’s about a wounded Ukrainian soldier.
A rabbi who was once forced to leave home by war
Rabbi Shalom Gopin, who visited Haim, was born in Israel in 1974, in Kfar Chabad. He studied in Israeli yeshivas and New York, and since the late 1990s worked in Luhansk, where he led the Jewish community.
After the start of the war in Donbas in 2014, Gopin had to leave the city. Together with community members, he participated in organizing a shelter for Jewish settlers in Zhytomyr.
Then the rabbi moved to Israel. At the end of 2016, he returned to Ukraine and began creating a new community in the Kyiv district of Obolon.
This story was detailed by journalist Sam Sokol in The Times of Israel in January 2020. Even after moving, Gopin continued to support elderly Jews who remained in Luhansk.
In February 2022, the rabbi’s family experienced evacuation again — already after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. His wife Hana described their escape from Kyiv and helping refugees.
NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency
A community that continues to work during the war
The Obolon community is engaged not only in religious life. It supports settlers, helps needy families, organizes charity events, and maintains connections with people whom the war has scattered across different cities.
In 2025, the community talked about helping displaced children together with LifeChanger UA, including medicines and glasses.
Supporting servicemen has also become part of the life of Jewish organizations in Ukraine. NANews previously wrote about the work of Rabbi Yakov Sinyakov, a Jewish chaplain of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who visits the front, delivers humanitarian aid, and talks to soldiers.
And in January 2026, Stas Shifer wrote about a Russian strike on a rabbi’s house in Kryvyi Rih — another example of how the war affects Jewish communities.
Three countries and one story
Haim is now undergoing recovery. His medical prognosis is unknown, as is when he will be able to return to normal life.
But it is already known who was nearby: a Norwegian, connected with Israel and Ukrainian Jews for many years, an Israeli rabbi who lost his home in Luhansk, and the Kyiv community that continues to help people during the war.
In its message, the community wished Haim “Refuah Shlema” — a full recovery.
This wish is now heard in both Ukrainian and Hebrew. And behind it stands very concrete help to a person who managed to survive after a severe injury.