19 March 2007
Vandals desecrated a synagogue in a southern Russia city at the weekend with swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans. An enquiry has been launched into the incident at Voronezh, the Itar-Tass news agency reported, citing local prosecutor Mikhail Usov. The city's Jewish community condemned the act, saying it would only stir up racial tension.
The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia last November called for greater protection following a rise in anti-Semitic acts. Racist attacks, often attributed to radical nationalists, have risen in Russia over recent years, with at least 520 people attacked and 54 killed in 2006 alone, the Moscow research institute Sova said. Five teenagers were sentenced to between 5 and 10 years in jail last month for the 2005 killing of a Jewish adolescent in a city in the Russian Urals. Meanwhile, two youths aged 19 and 20 have been arrested in connection with an attack on a Jewish cemetery on 06 March, which saw the destruction of around 20 gravestones.
