A man wielding an ax attacked a synagogue in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Tuesday and was disarmed and chased away by a security guard. The incident took place during the morning prayers.
Video posted footage posted on the United Jewish Community of Ukraine’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 fled the scene.
Before assaulting the guard, the perpetrator managed to throw cans, packages feces, sand and another substances into the synagogue.
The local police have been alerted and are searching for the man, according to the community’s Rabbi Menachem Mendel Cohen who said: ‘’The security guard is a hero. I was in the synagogue at this time while they were fighting.”