Hate Crimes Russia

American Rabbi Boruch Cunin arrived at Moscow's Agudas Habad Synagogue on Monday to find one room of the house of worship charred, allegedly by arsonists who want to frighten his group out of Russia and back to Los Angeles. Just a few days before, a blood-red sign saying "Death to the Yids!" and swastikas were scrawled next to the front door of the synagogue, headquarters of the Lubavitch Habad community, an Orthodox Hasidic Jewish movement.

A young man with a swastika tattooed on his chest walked into a Moscow synagogue and repeatedly stabbed a prominent Jewish leader in the latest incident of anti-Semitism in Russia. Leopold Kaimovsky, the 52-year-old director of the Jewish Cultural Center at Moscow's Choral Synagogue, was in grave condition after surgery at a Moscow hospital, a doctor said. The alleged attacker, identified as 20-year-old Nikita Krivchun, was detained by guards at the synagogue and then turned over to police.

Russia formed an elite task force Sunday to investigate bomb blasts near two Moscow synagogues and hinted that it suspected neo-Nazi activists. Interior Minister Sergei V. Stepashin said it wasn't clear that the synagogues were the targets of the bombings, however, noting that both blasts occurred near police medical facilities, the Interfax news agency reported. No one claimed responsibility for either explosion, the Federal Security Service said.

Russia formed an elite task force Sunday to investigate bomb blasts near two Moscow synagogues and hinted that it suspected neo-Nazi activists. Interior Minister Sergei V. Stepashin said it wasn't clear that the synagogues were the targets of the bombings, however, noting that both blasts occurred near police medical facilities, the Interfax news agency reported. No one claimed responsibility for either explosion, the Federal Security Service said.

A young man with a swastika tattooed on his chest walked into a Moscow synagogue and repeatedly stabbed a prominent Jewish leader in the latest incident of anti-Semitism in Russia. Leopold Kaimovsky, the 52-year-old director of the Jewish Cultural Center at Moscow's Choral Synagogue, was in grave condition after surgery at a Moscow hospital, a doctor said. The alleged attacker, identified as 20-year-old Nikita Krivchun, was detained by guards at the synagogue and then turned over to police.

A leading Moscow university ordered foreign students to stay in their dormitories for three days because of fears of ethnic violence before and after Adolf Hitler's birthday today. Hundreds of foreigners at Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy were told to stock up on food and warned they would not be let out of the dormitories through Saturday. At least 22 people have been killed and more than 130 injured in apparent hate crimes in Russia this year, said the SOVA center, which monitors xenophobia.

American Rabbi Boruch Cunin arrived at Moscow's Agudas Habad Synagogue on Monday to find one room of the house of worship charred, allegedly by arsonists who want to frighten his group out of Russia and back to Los Angeles. Just a few days before, a blood-red sign saying "Death to the Yids!" and swastikas were scrawled next to the front door of the synagogue, headquarters of the Lubavitch Habad community, an Orthodox Hasidic Jewish movement.