Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Security guard thwarts ax attack at Ukraine synagogue

Despite his injuries, the guard at the Jewish house of worship in Mariupol managed to disarm the perpetrator, who then fled the scene.

The ax used by the attacker at the synagogue in Mariupol, Ukraine. Credit: Facebook/United Jewish Community of Ukraine.
The ax used by the attacker at the synagogue in Mariupol, Ukraine. Credit: Facebook/United Jewish Community of Ukraine.

A young man wielding an ax attacked the synagogue in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Tuesday, and fled the scene when repelled by a security guard, reported the United Jewish Community of Ukraine.

Video posted footage posted on the community’s website and Facebook page shows the unidentified man entering the synagogue and striking the guard. Though injured, the guard managed to disarm the attacker, who then fled the scene.

Outside the synagogue in Mariupol, Ukraine. Credit: Courtesy.
Outside the synagogue in Mariupol, Ukraine. (Credit: Facebook page of the United Jewish Community of Ukraine)

Before assaulting the guard, Richard Anatolievich Golomazov, the perpetrator managed to throw cans, packages, feces, sand and other substances into the synagogue.

Chief Rabbi of Mariupol Mendel Cohen, said “the security guard is a hero. I was in the synagogue at this time while they were fighting.”

Cohen said police are searching for the perpetrator.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz said the employee should no longer work for the county if the allegations are confirmed.
Asaad al-Shaibani said that contact with Jerusalem was cut off in the wake of the Israelis strikes on an airbase in northwestern Syria.
“Erdoğan is an antisemitic dictator who has massacred Kurds, harbors Hamas terrorists, occupies half of Cyprus, and jails record numbers of journalists.”
IDF troops seized the suspect in the area of the attack on Sunday afternoon.