News Brief08:33 AM

(IsraelNN.com) Russia authorities have arrested nine youths, aged 14 and 15, who drew swastikas on a Jewish cultural center in the Volga region city of Ulyanovsk, according to the European Jewish Press. Andrei Glotser, speaking for Russian Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar, said that "such incidents are not isolated." Another Jewish community official reported that earlier this week four youth entered a synagogue and threw prayer books out the window.

"The fact that the Interior Ministry is reporting a dramatic increase in hate crimes in Russia over the past four years raises concerns about the spiritual state of our society," said Alexander Boroda, chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia.