Secret services of the Russian Federation are spreading anti-Semitic sentiments in Ukraine, Verkhovna Rada deputy Anton Herashchenko said, speaking during a live interview broadcast by the Kyiv-based 112.ua TV channel in Kyiv on Jan. 23 evening.
“You probably remember the news in November that a pig’s head was left on the tombstone of Tsadik, who is revered by Jews, in Uman. There was also the news that anti-Semitic graffiti appeared in Chernivtsi during the visit of Israel’s Knesset speaker. Anti-Semitic books were also distributed in November and December of last year. I can say that these incidents are not coincidental. They are part of a concerted effort by Russian special forces to sow anti-Semitic sentiments in Ukraine,” Herashchenko said.
Head of Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) Yuriy Lutsenko has taken under his personal control another incident involving arson at a Jewish cemetery in Uman.
Ukraine’s Culture Ministry has characterized the crime as an act of xenophobia and does not rule out “other destruction acts and the influence of foreign actors trying to destabilize the situation in Ukraine on religious grounds.”
Deputy Head of the National Police of Ukraine Kostiantyn Bushuyev has said the police are taking all measures to identify those responsible for the arson, as well as their motives.
