Ukrainian-born Holocaust survivor, child of Ukrainian immigrants among victims of mass shooting in Australia
Editor's Note: This article has been updated with additional information.
Two people killed in the Dec. 14 terrorist attack in Australia had connections to Ukraine: the victims included a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Australia from Ukraine, and the 10-year-old daughter of Ukrainian immigrants.
The attack, which targeted the Jewish community, killed at least 16 people and injured over 40 others.
The shooting took place at Bondi Beach as hundreds gathered to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light. Released footage purported to show two gunmen firing from a pedestrian bridge.
One suspect has been killed, while another is in custody, ABC reported. The incident has been classified as a terrorist attack. The gunmen are alleged to be a father and son.
Alexander Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor and Ukrainian immigrant to Australia, was among the victims killed.
Kleytman's wife, Larisa Kleytman, told reporters that her husband was killed in the attack.
"We were standing and suddenly came the 'boom boom,' and everybody fell down," she told the Australian. "At this moment he was behind me and at one moment he decided to go close to me. He pushed his body up because he wanted to stay near me."
Both Alexander and Larisa survived the Holocaust. According to a 2022-2023 report from JewishCare, an Australian health provider, Kleytman faced "dreadful conditions in Siberia where he, along with his mother and younger brother, struggled for survival."
The couple later immigrated to Australia from Ukraine.
One of the attack's youngest victims also has Ukrainian heritage. The father of a 10-year-old girl killed in the shooting told a crowd paying their respects on Dec. 16 that his family had immigrated to Australia from Ukraine, adding that his daughter, Matilda, was their first Australian-born family member.
President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed solidarity with Australia on social media following the attack.
"We express condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed and wish a swift and full recovery to all those who were wounded," Zelensky wrote on X.
"Terror and hatred must never prevail — they must be defeated everywhere and every time."
Mass shootings are rare in Australia due to the country's strict gun laws. The recent attack is the deadliest since 1996, when a gunman killed 35 people and wounded 23 in an attack at the Port Arthur site in Tasmania.
