Jonathan Karlinsky, the Israeli Breslov Hasid detained at Ukraine's border on his way home from Rosh Hashanah in Uman, has been located at a detention facility near Odessa and will serve in the Ukrainian army in a medical role, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine (FJCU) announced Thursday.
Karlinsky, 49, of Beitar Illit, is awaiting transfer to a base near Kharkiv, several dozen kilometers from the front lines. The Ukrainian military told the federation about a week ago that he was being held at a detention facility for deserters in Odessa. The family's lawyer, attorney Shlomo Haddad, was told by the federation that Karlinsky would not be posted in an active combat zone, but at a rear base where he will serve in a medical role.
Once his location was known, local rabbis, including Chabad emissaries, arranged for him to receive kosher food, a siddur, and the Four Species for Sukkot. In a video sent to his family, Karlinsky said he was in good condition and being treated fairly. "They treat me here with respect, but I cannot fulfill military duties because of religious beliefs that do not allow me to use a weapon," he said.
His family said efforts to free him failed. "His medical expertise, combined with the Ukrainian army's growing shortage of medical personnel, meant the army needed him immediately and could not let him go," they said. "Furthermore, he had previously served in the Ukrainian army, before becoming religious and immigrating to Israel, so from their perspective, he belongs to them."
His wife, Odel, told Walla after his arrest that she was "very upset." She had missed two calls from him around the time he was detained, and only afterward understood something was wrong. "I never imagined they had caught him," she said. "He traveled like every year and didn't think for a moment this could happen."
A friend from Jerusalem, Natan, said Karlinsky had made the trip to Uman for years, including since the war began, without being stopped. "He probably thought that because he had Israeli citizenship, he no longer had any problem in Ukraine," he said. The family also turned to Israel's Foreign Ministry, which told them it was working to locate him, according to Walla.
FJCU chairman Rabbi Meir Stambler said exemptions are impossible in the current war. "People are being killed every day, resulting in a severe shortage of manpower. Every Ukrainian citizen is needed here," he said, comparing it to Israel's existential wars against Hamas and Hezbollah. Karlinsky told authorities he did not want to carry a weapon for religious reasons, and they agreed to assign him to a medical role. Stambler said he may later be moved into the Ukrainian military rabbinate.
Ukraine's State Border Guard Service denied that he was mobilized at the border. It said checks found that he also holds Ukrainian citizenship and that military registration records listed him as wanted, so he was handed to the National Police. The agency said it does not screen foreign citizens for military status or carry out mobilization at crossings.
Karlinsky was born in Ukraine and immigrated to Israel about 14 years ago. He was stopped at the Orlivka-Isaccea crossing, a ferry crossing over the Danube between the Odessa region and Romania, while traveling home on a pilgrims' bus. Tens of thousands of Breslov Hasidim spent Rosh Hashanah in Uman this year.
Early reports described him as a father of six who would be exempt from service on those grounds. According to Ynet, further checks found that he has one daughter.
