The governments of Ukraine and Israel urge pilgrims who plan to take part in the festive events on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah in Ukraine to refrain from visiting Uman town (Cherkasy region).

"On the initiative of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Rosh Hashan acquired the status of a national holiday in Ukraine. However, this year the epidemic situation in Ukraine and Israel, as well as in the whole world, unfortunately, does not allow traditionally celebrating this holiday. Guided by the recommendations and warnings of the Health Ministry of Ukraine and Israel, we urge all pilgrims who plan to take part in the current festive events on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah in Ukraine to refrain from visiting Uman town due to the threatening epidemic situation," the Ukrainian and Israeli governments said in their common statement released on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

By the way, for those who do decide to visit Uman, the governments said that lockdown in Ukraine applies to all public events and must be strictly observed.

"We hope for understanding and sincerely believe that next year we will be able to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and other holidays together without any restrictions," the officials said in the statement.

As reported, on August 17, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that the government supported the decision to restrict foreigners from visiting Uman (Cherkasy region) for the period of Rosh Hashanah celebrations in 2020.

In addition, according to Avakov, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reached a similar agreement with representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, who refused to hold the procession due to the pandemic.

Uman Mayor Oleksandr Tsebriy threatened to block the entry for Hasidim for the period of Rosh Hashanah due to the situation with coronavirus (COVID-19) and said that he would go to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss this issue.

Earlier, the participants of the interdepartmental meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine came to the joint opinion that the arrival of tens of thousands of Hasidic pilgrims to Uman to celebrate the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah in the traditional format in 2020 is impossible due to the epidemiological situation in Israel, the ban on mass events in Ukraine , the need to create a large number of places for observation and the complexity of law enforcement control over the observance of the self-isolation regime by the pilgrims.

Later, the Israeli Ministry of Health called on Kyiv officials not to allow the Hasidim pilgrimage to Uman on the Rosh Hashanah holiday in 2020.

In 2019, more than 30,000 pilgrims arrived in Uman to celebrate the 5780th Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), which is celebrated from the evening of September 29 to the evening of October 1.