The Ukrainian crisis according to Natan Sharasnky

DIPLOMATIC AFFAIRS: Natan Sharansky is a Ukrainian native who spent his formative years in Russian prisons.

By HERB KEINON

NATAN SHARANSKY: The irony is that Putin said the Ukrainians are not a nation, but now probably he has done more than anyone in history to give them a sense of being a nation. (photo credit: OFFICE OF NATAN SHARANSKY)

That Ukrainian history drips with Jewish blood should in no way impact the support and sympathy Israel and the Jewish people offer to and feel today toward Ukrainians fighting Russia, says former Prisoner of Zion and Ukrainian native Natan Sharansky.

“If we say we are not going to send our hospitals [to help the Ukrainians], because their great-grandfathers raped our great-grandmothers, then we will have to stop

Natan Sharansky offered advice to cope with COVID lockdowns. Now, he’s recovering from the virus.

Last year, Natan Sharansky recorded a video on how to handle quarantine based on his experience as a political prisoner. (Screenshot)

(JTA) — When the world shut down last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Natan Sharansky figured his experience as a Soviet political prisoner meant he had a thing or two to teach the millions of people who were suddenly confined to their homes.

So he recorded a video providing his advice that went viral among the many Jews around the world who have long seen him as a sage figure.

Nearly a year and a half later, Sharansky, 73, announced on Facebook that he and his wife, Avital, had contracted the disease. The Israeli couple had both been vaccinated months ago, and are both recovering.