MOSCOW (AFP)---A Russian Jewish organization has voiced alarm on Monday at police "inaction" after two attacks on a Jewish cultural centre in the city of Tula timed to coincide with World War II commemorations.
In a statement, the Russian Jewish Congress said extreme-right activists had daubed swastikas and other graffiti on a cultural centre in Tula, 170 kilometres (105 miles) south of Moscow, on the night of May 8-9 as Russia held annual Victory Day commemorations marking the defeat of Nazi Germany.
After police failed to react, three people again tried to attack the centre on May 11 but were fought off by the centre's employees, the statement said.
After the first incident "no criminal case was opened. Moreover, rather than trying to find the vandals, law enforcement agencies tried to conceal information about the incident," the congress said.
"No incident in Russia aimed at inciting ethnic discord should remain unpunished," the statement said.
Russia, which played a leading role in defeating fascism in World War II, has seen a proliferation of anti-Semitic and nationalist groups since the 1991 Soviet collapse.
The Interior Ministry, which oversees Russia's police, was not immediately reachable for comment.
