Shul Attack Caught on Camera

By COLlive reporter

An arson attempt has been made on Chabad’s Darkei Shalom synagogue in Moscow, Interfax news agency reported.

Four unidentified young men wearing masks threw incendiary bottles into the building on Signalny Proyezd at 12:40 a.m. on Tuesday and fled, a law enforcement source said.

The shul was built 15 years ago and serves the many Jews living in South Moscow. A mikvah is currently being built on the premises.

The shul’s Rabbi Dovid Karpov was not there at the time, as he is leading a group of congregants on a trip to pray in the town of Lubavitch.

“Hooligans threw several incendiary bottles at the synagogue, but none of them hit the building and none of them exploded,” a Moscow Police spokesman told Interfax.

“It was an act of hooliganism and the incident will be probed on hooliganism charges,” he said.

But a source in law enforcement services said the attack could have been an act of nationalists’ revenge for a verdict, handed down to five members of the Nationalist-Socialist Society on Monday.

Reports said earlier that the Moscow District Military Court sentenced five members of the Nationalist-Socialist Society to life on counts of attempted murder and attempted terror attacks.

COLlive.com was told that Russian police updated Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar on the incident and assured him they are committed to finding the predators.

Security cameras surrounding the shul were given to the police for evidence. A copy of the video was sent to COLlive: