Since 2002, the Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk has been home to one of the most important matzah factories in the former Soviet Union. Despite the looming threat of Russian invasion, its ovens are still running. Dovid Margolin explains the historical significance of matzah baking for post-Soviet Jewry:
For generations, matzah baking in the Soviet Union was a hidden, secretive affair. . . . Nevertheless, from the onset of Communist rule in the early 1920s until the regime’s demise in 1991, matzah remained a [Passover] staple for millions of Jews in the Soviet Union. Whether baked in the relative privacy of home or purchased at the local synagogue in exchange for government rations, matzah remained one of the last connections to Judaism [for many Soviet Jews]. . . .
During Soviet times, Jews living in smaller cities and settlements were unable to bake their own matzah, and therefore had to receive shipments from bigger cities such as Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev. After the breakup of the Soviet Union and the independence of its republics, these shipments continued; Dnepropetrovsk for years received its matzah from Moscow. When it began baking its own matzahs in 2002, it naturally exported them to Russia for sale.
Today, that is no longer possible. Matzah production may not have been affected by the ongoing war between Ukraine and [Russian-backed] rebel forces a few hundred kilometers to the east, but there has been a breakdown in trade relations between Russia and Ukraine as a result of [the war]. That means that while Ukrainian matzah is shipped around the world, this year it will not be available for Passover use just across the border in Russia. . . .
Read more on Chabad.org: http://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/2901363/jewish/Despite-Ongoing-Trials-of-History-Ukraine-Matzah-Bakery-Continues-Its-Unique-Legacy.htm