A group of people staged a pogrom at the Central Synagogue at 13 Shota Rustaveli St., Kyiv, April 13. Law enforcement authorities claim the raid took place at 9:10 p.m., but eyewitnesses insist it began at 9:30. They threw stones, smashing nine windows on the second floor. Militia reports rule out any anti-Semitic involvement. In fact, the internal affairs ministry’s PR department claims it was an act of vandalism committed by soccer fans returning from the national big league championship at the Dynamo Stadium (three such fans, born in 1982 and 1984, were arrested in Kyiv). Investigation is underway, following this lead.
There are different opinions about what has actually happened. Synagogue workers and visitors leaving after the evening prayer saw the attackers and feel sure that the raid was aimed at the synagogue. Chief Rabbi Moshe Reuven Asman pointed out that the very fact of neighboring structures remaining intact is evidence that was happened was a real pogrom. Rabbi Asman further said he was sure that events in the Middle East must have played a great role in the incident.
Yuri Pavlenko, Ph.D., said anti-Semitism in Ukraine had noticeably decreased over the past decade, compared to the Soviet period, mostly because the Ukrainian state does not conduct any anti-Semitic policy; on the contrary, it in every way possible encourages Jewish communities and organizations, the opening of synagogues; likewise there is no anti-Semitism in the media. “Of course, now and then we come across certain vestiges, but what has happened should never be regarded as an indicator of public sentiments.”
