A Russian missile struck within yards of the Or Avner Chabad school in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in a strike that shook the entire neighborhood and sent thick smoke over the area.
The school building itself was not directly hit, and there were no casualties inside the institution, according to the school's security guard.
But the force of the blast left heavy destruction in the immediate radius, and the mayor of Kharkiv issued an urgent statement saying rescue teams were working to extract civilians after receiving reports of people trapped under the rubble of nearby buildings that were hit. Volunteers from the Jewish community are taking part in the rescue effort.
The strike comes after a particularly difficult weekend for the city, which saw additional severe hits on residential areas. Despite the ongoing danger and the threat from the air, the local Jewish community has once again shown extraordinary resilience.
Immediately after the latest strikes, dozens of young and older volunteers from the Jewish community went out to the sites of destruction.
The volunteers, wearing bright identification vests, moved among the ruins and provided critical humanitarian aid to local residents who had lost their homes or were left without basic supplies.
The work on the ground included distributing mineral water, warm loaves of bread and basic food to anyone who needed it, alongside emotional support for residents in deep distress.
Rabbi Moshe Moskowitz, the city's rabbi and Chabad emissary in Kharkiv, said that despite the frightening proximity of the current strike to the school, they will continue to do everything in their power to protect the educational institutions and maintain the continuity of support for the many residents of the city who remain on the front line.
"The school will open tomorrow morning as usual," Rabbi Moskowitz added.
Local rescue and emergency forces, together with community volunteers, continue to comb the burning area in the hope of locating survivors as soon as possible.
