(JNS.org) Odessa Jewish community leaders said Sunday, May 4 that Jews in the Western Ukrainian city are preparing to evacuate if violence there worsens. Over the past few days in Odessa, violent clashes between pro-Russian and nationalist forces resulted in more than 40 deaths, according to reports. About 30,000 Jews live in Odessa. Representatives of the Ukrainian Jewish community insisted that the violence is not specifically targeting Jews. But Rabbi Refael Kruskal, who heads the Odessa-based Jewish philanthropic organization Tikva, told the Jerusalem Post, “Over the weekend we closed the [Great Choral] Synagogue [in Odessa]. We took all the students out of the center of the city where the violence was. If it gets worse, then we’ll take them out of the city.”

Kruskal is also wary that next weekend, which marks the anniversary of Soviet Russia’s victory over Germany in the Second World War, could get very violent. He is considering setting up a camp away from the city where 600 Jews could stay while the fighting transpires.

Other Odessa Jewish organizations also have evacuations plans in place. The local Jewish community and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews have fueled 70 buses, which are prepared for an evacuation if needed, said local Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Avraham Wolf.