Representatives of the Jewish community assessed the level of anti-Semitism in the Volgograd region.

Anti-Semitic crimes are rare in the Volgograd region, although they do occur in everyday life, according to members of the Jewish community. Commenting on the verdict in the case of a Dagestani man attacking a man wearing a kippah, they noted that Jews in the region tend to keep their religiosity low-key.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," a Volgograd court sentenced Gasan Abukov, a native of Dagestan, to two and a half years in prison for assaulting and beating a Jewish man on the street. The attack occurred in July 2024. The state prosecutor appealed the verdict, demanding that Abukov be sentenced to four years in a maximum-security prison, but the Volgograd Regional Court, after reviewing the appeal, upheld the sentence.

The victim is not ethnically Jewish and has never maintained any ties to the Jewish community, Yael Ioffe, head of the Jewish community of the Volgograd region, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Yael said she learned of the crime when the victim's mother contacted her. The woman told the community leader what had happened. Yael asked her what kind of help the family needed, to which the mother of the victim of the anti-Semitic attack replied, "Just pray for my son." Yael asked her about her son's beliefs. The woman replied that he wears a kippah "out of inner convictions" that he does not advertise.

"He has not taken any steps into the public life (of the Jewish community)," Yael Ioffe noted.

The community head said that she was brought in as an expert during the investigation and trial. They were investigating the extent to which the attack was offensively nationalistic. Yael told the correspondent about a fact that intrigued her. After the attack, while the victim was undergoing treatment and the police were conducting an investigation, the attackers themselves became victims of a brutal beating. One was tried after treatment, while the other was taken to intensive care and found himself under the care of his victim—the young man recovered and returned to work at the hospital, where he worked as a nurse. The victim didn't recognize the attacker. But the attacker recognized him and apologized. Afterward, the partially recovered patient fled the hospital and is now on the federal wanted list.

"Here's an example of heavenly justice," Yael Ioffe concluded her story.

It's not customary in our region to wear kippahs and religious clothing on the streets. This isn't Israel or New York.

A Volgograd pensioner who introduced himself as Sergey Isaevich, in a conversation with a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, noted that Volgograd Jews never flaunt their religious attributes.

"Well, it's not customary in our region to walk around in kippahs and religious clothing on the streets. This isn't Israel or New York. We didn't do that in Soviet times, and we don't do that now. And it's not because it might irritate passersby, but we've simply never flaunted our religiosity," said a member of the Volgograd Jewish community.

Sergey Isaevich noted that over the past seven years, he hasn't heard of any anti-Semitic actions: except for the vandalism against the monument to the victims of the Holocaust in the March 8th Square and the recent attack on a young man in kepe.

"In Volgograd, I don't think there's any reason for anti-Semitism. We don't compete with representatives of the titular nation for jobs and businesses here. And then most of the Jews left for Israel long ago, back in the 1990s. There aren't many of us here," the retiree explained.

The pensioner's niece, Mila Bureeva, told a journalist that she remembers the events of the early 2000s very well - nationalist marches ("mostly anti-Semitic"), an attack on a Jewish school.

In the Cossack areas of the region, anti-Semitic statements can often be heard at the everyday level.

The woman believes that the danger of anti-Semitism still exists in the Volgograd region.

"Yes, in Anti-Semitism isn't particularly prevalent in Volgograd. But, for example, in the Cossack areas of the region, anti-Semitic remarks are often heard in everyday conversations, though the attacks are still verbal. "But what will happen when the Cossacks start returning from the SVO? I don't even want to talk about it," Mila said. Student Alexei Berkovich believes that in Volgograd, "we can't talk about an exacerbation of the anti-Semitism problem." According to him, he has not observed any serious "outbreaks of anti-Semitism" among ordinary people, city hall officials, or regional administration officials.

"Yes. We don't wear kippahs on our heads while walking the streets. We have no such desire. But even if I did wear one, I don't think my classmates at my university, for example, would look at me askance. I think they would even support me. And no one in the city would say a bad word," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Muslims in the North Caucasus reacted sharply to the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that began in October 2023. From October 26 to 29, 2023, mass anti-Semitic protests took place in three republics of the North Caucasus: Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, and Karachay-Cherkessia. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared the reports "Anti-Semitic Actions in the North Caucasus: How It Happened" and "A Wave of Anti-Semitic Actions in the North Caucasus".

On October 29, 2023, mass riots broke out at Makhachkala Airport following the announcement of the arrival of a plane carrying passengers from Israel. More than 20 people were injured in the riots. What happened at Uytash Airport and the ongoing investigation are described in the "Caucasian Knot" report "The Case of the Pogrom at Makhachkala Airport."

In June 2024, militants attacked an Orthodox church and a synagogue in Derbent, and the Holy Dormition Cathedral and a traffic police post in Makhachkala. As a result, 22 people were killed and 46 were injured. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared reports "Key Information on the Participants in the Makhachkala and Derbent Attacks" and "Attacks on Churches, Synagogues, and Security Forces in Dagestan".