Unfinished anti-Semitism

Components of an explosive device were found near the synagogue

On Sunday evening, all the capital's special services were alerted due to the discovery of an explosive device in the city center, near the Hasidic synagogue on Bolshaya Bronnaya Street. It later turned out that the bomb was “defective” and, in the worst case, could only set fire to nearby cars. However, given that on April 20 the security services were expecting possible skinhead performances on the occasion of Hitler's birthday, the incident attracted special attention from the authorities.

The bomb was reported to the police by a passer-by who, at 10:30 p.m., while walking down the street, saw a teenager leave two bags on the asphalt and set something in one of them on fire. The man came closer and, seeing that the fuse was on fire, immediately extinguished it.

A canine handler with a dog and an explosives team from the FSB arrived at the scene. As it turned out, the packages were lying between two cars - a Rover and a Peugeot, parked at an equal distance from the synagogue and the 16-story residential building. The dog showed that they might contain explosives, after which the dangerous place was cordoned off, and the residents of the house were evacuated.

The packages actually contained components from which explosives could be made: ammonium nitrate, aluminum powder and pecryl acid. But experts noted that they did not pose a danger - there was no detonator. The maximum that could result from ignition of the mixture is a fire. Detectives are still wondering who left this “cocktail” and why. According to one version, this could have been an attempt by the capital's skinheads to carry out an anti-Semitic action; according to another, the “bomb” was left as a warning to one of the residents of the house. The first is supported by the fact that this synagogue has already become the target of attacks by neo-fascists - in 1994 a grenade was thrown at it, and in 2000 a time bomb was found in the synagogue premises, which was defused. However, the detectives also found out that the Rover from which the packages were found belongs to a local businessman, who, according to some sources, had previously been attacked.

Representatives of Jewish communities yesterday gave different assessments of the night incident. The Russian Jewish Congress made a neutral statement: “On the eve of Victory Day, on Hitler’s birthday, a terrorist attack was being prepared. As a result, near the Moscow synagogue on Bolshaya Bronnaya, the residents of a nearby multi-storey building found themselves in danger.” The chief rabbi of Russia, Berl Lazar, spoke more harshly, calling the emergency “an attempt to intimidate the Jewish community and society as a whole.” The synagogue itself stated that it did not connect the incident with an anti-Semitic attack: “The packages were found outside the synagogue at 11 pm. At this time, the synagogue has long been closed. And recently, no threats have been received against us.”

Valery CHALIKOV