A security guard was shot by an assailant during an attack over the Sabbath at Moscow’s largest synagogue, the Moscow Choral Synagogue.
This is the same synagogue which then-Israeli Ambassador Golda Meir and the first official Israeli delegation to Russia visited and attended services during their posting to Moscow.
Svan Ivan Borisovich, age 40, arrived at the scene with a gun and a canister of flammable liquid during later afternoon prayers, according to Interfax, and attempted to enter the building with 150 worshipers inside, saying he was going to burn down the building.
The house of worship, located on Bolshoy Spasogolinschevsky Lane in central Moscow, is the largest and most prominent Jewish house of worship in Russia.
Security guards at the site blocked him from entering and attempted to take the man across the street, at which point he withdrew the gun and shot one of them. The guard sustained gunshot wounds in the head and chest.
The other guards overpowered the attacker and held him until police arrived and arrested him. The wounded guard was rushed to a hospital, where he is listed in critical condition, according to Mediazone.
The suspect told reporters as he was taken away by police that he had opened fire and carried out the attack “for Russia.”