Moscow – The director and founder of a Moscow Jewish museum was
shot and seriously injured outside the institution by an unidentified assailant
on Thursday.
Sergei Ustinov, a writer and businessman who is a prominent member of
Moscow’s Jewish community and who also serves as vice president of the Russian
Jewish Congress, was shot in his car by a man who promptly fled the scene.
He was evacuated to a hospital in the Russian capital.
Police said they were investigating several possible motives for the
crime, including a business dispute and antisemitism.
Following the attack, the RJC called on Russian authorities to give
special attention to the crime due to its possible antisemitic roots. Ethnic
hatred, the group said, threatened “the very foundations” of the country.
