Officials: Jewish organization in Siberia attacked

MOSCOW - Unidentified assailants threw gasoline bombs at a Jewish organization's office in a Russian Siberian city and scattered leaflets with threats, prosecutors and activists said Wednesday.

The incident early Sunday in the city of Surgut, about 2,200 kilometers (1,350 miles) east of Moscow, started a small fire at the office that was quickly extinguished, said Timur Kireyev, a spokesman for the Federation of Jewish Communities in Russia.

The regional prosecutor's spokesman said a criminal investigation into property damage and attempted crime has been opened.

Kireyev said the perpetrators also scattered leaflets depicting skulls and bones in the office.

The incident followed the federation's appeal for regional authorities to do more to protect synagogues and Jewish communities throughout the country, citing numerous incidents of vandalism and desecrations of graves.

There has been a marked rise in hate crimes in Russia in recent years, which rights groups say is partly fueled by the reluctance of authorities to track down perpetrators and tackle growing nationalism.

Police detained on Saturday hundreds of ultranationalists who took to the streets in cities across Russia in defiance of a ban on right-wing marches.