Asher Cherkasskiy lived a modest life in peaceful southern Ukraine, observing Orthodox Jewish custom and putting his three children through religious school. But when war against pro-Russian insurgents broke out in 2014, everything changed. Cherkasskiy became one of the few religious Jews to join a pro-Kiev militia and his bearded, bespectacled face — so different from the others — turned him into an unlikely icon of the conflict. “I had to protect my children,” said the 45-year-old former handyman whose fame has since propelled him into politics. “If the territorial integrity of your country is broken, you have to defend …read more
Source: Egypt Independent
