Russian Police Fake Rabbi’s Death to Catch Antisemitic Gang

Russian police worked with a rabbi to fake his death in a scheme to catch members of an antisemitic gang, the JC reported.

According to Russian court documents, police in the southern Krasnodar region infiltrated an antisemitic gang by posing as killer-for-hire to gang members. The gang, the Citizens of the USSR, was described as a “Jew-hating” “cult” that do not recognize the modern Russian state but instead follows the defunct Soviet Union.

The gang wanted the undercover police officer to kill Rabbi Yury Tkach, 52. Tkach, who was aware of the plot and secretly working with the police, took part in an elaborate photoshoot in his apartment building were he was splashed with fake blood and posed as if dead. The undercover officer then took the photos to the gang, claiming he had killed Tkach.

Police later posted video of the rabbi getting a fake wound painted onto his head by a make-up artist.

At the hearing at Krasnodar regional court, both defendants from the Citizens of the USSR deny the charges. One claims he does not recognize the legitimacy of the Russian court.

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smarcus@hamodia.com