Rabbi of Kherson, Ukraine, and Family Miraculously Survive Direct Drone Strike in Ukraine

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Wolff, his wife Chaya, and their 19-year-old daughter miraculously escaped unharmed after their vehicle was struck by a Russian suicide drone in a direct hit on Thursday evening local time.

The incident occurred as they approached their hometown of Kherson in southern Ukraine.

The family was about a kilometer and a half from a city checkpoint when Rabbi Wolff, Rav of the city, suddenly spotted a drone hovering above their car. “I just saw it, for an instant, and then a few seconds later there was a crazy explosion,” a shaken Rabbi Wolff told Chabad.org. “You can see a picture of the car. It’s a miracle that we’re alive and well. You can’t call it anything else—a miracle.”

The drone directly impacted the Wolffs’ Toyota Land Cruiser, destroying the entire front half of the vehicle. “Of course I’ve heard these drones in the air before, but not like this—attacking you directly,” he said.

Despite Kherson being a frequent site of conflict since the war began in 2022, this incident marked the closest the family has come to direct combat.

Following the attack, a driver behind the Wolffs stopped to take Chaya Wolff and their daughter, Raizi, home. Rabbi Wolff was picked up by a member of the Jewish community of Kherson.

Rabbi Wolff, who directs Chabad-Lubavitch of Kherson, and his wife established their center in 1993, two years after the fall of Communism.

Under their leadership, Kherson has developed a vibrant Jewish community with various activities, including a day school, summer camp, soup kitchen, and mikvah.
“We feel born again,” Rabbi Wolff reflected just hours after the attack. “The Talmud says ‘messengers of a mitzvah are not harmed.’ We were driving to Kherson to be with our community—a mitzvah—so we were, thank G‑d, unharmed. All I can say is do something good for another person, and leave the rest to G‑d.”