Molotov cocktail thrown into backyard of Zaporizhia synagogue - police

A police inquiry has been opened after a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the backyard of a synagogue in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia on Monday evening.

A Zaporizhia region police spokesman told Interfax-Ukraine that "unknown persons hurled a Molotov cocktail over the fence into the synagogue's backyard."

"The building was not damaged," he said.

Material evidence was confiscated from the scene of the crime.

For their part, representatives of the People's Rada, which was recently established in the city, describe this incident as a provocation and claim that a "titushki" group, which "was pushed from Lenin Square by self-defense units abandoning Molotov cocktails," stepped up its activities in Zaporizhia on February 23.

The People's Council and local Maidan supporters believe that this provocation is directed against them and is aimed at destabilizing the situation in the city.

A spokesman for the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia told Interfax earlier that "Molotov cocktails were thrown at the walls and the entrance door of the building. The synagogue's facade was damaged."

There were no worshippers inside the building at the time of the incident. Synagogue security guards failed to detain the attackers.