Families from the Simcha Jewish community in Kyiv returned from a peaceful retreat in the Carpathian Mountains this week and landed directly into one of the most frightening nights the Ukrainian capital has seen in months, as hundreds of Russian drones and missiles shook the city for hours.

The massive overnight assault began at about 7:00 p.m. and continued until 7:00 a.m., filling Kyiv with explosions and sending thousands of people running for shelter. As part of the city’s emergency preparations, gas stations across the capital were closed in advance to prevent possible disasters in case of a direct hit, while many people spent the night deep underground in the city’s metro stations.

“The entire city was shaking, the explosions did not stop, and it was simply impossible to sleep,” said Rabbi Simcha Levenhertz, one of the Rebbe’s Shluchim in Kyiv.

For dozens of families from the Simcha community, led by Rabbi Mordechai Levenhertz, the night came with a painful contrast. Only a day earlier, they had returned to Kyiv after nine days of calm in the Carpathian Mountains, where a special respite camp organized by JRNU, the Jewish Relief Network Ukraine, gave families and children a brief break from the constant trauma of war.

Instead, they arrived home just in time for one of the most severe attacks on the city. Many members of the community spent the night crowded into shelters, including the underground shelter in the community building, as the blasts continued above them through the night.

Despite the sleepless night and the fear felt across the city, Kyiv’s shuls were full early in the morning, as hundreds of Yidden came to daven Shacharis on the fast of Shiva Asar B’Tammuz. Exhausted but determined, they gathered for tefillah after a night spent under fire.

At the same time, JRNU’s humanitarian network was activated again, providing hot meals at Jewish community centers and sending volunteers into the city to deliver food to the homes of the elderly, the sick, and those unable to go out while Kyiv remains under the threat of missile attacks.