Monday, April 28, 2014

Ukrainian Jewish Mayor Shot, Critically Wounded; Fights for His Life in Hospital for Anti-Semitic Act

The Jewish mayor of Ukraine's second-largest city was shot today (April 28, 2014) in a suspected anti-Semitic assassination attempt that left him in critical condition, according to the JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) website.

Gennady Kernes, mayor of Kharkiv, "sustained a gunshot wound to the back," officials from the eastern Ukraine city said in a statement issued today. "Now he is in the hospital emergency room, on the operating table. Doctors are fighting for his life."

Kernes was on his routine morning jog when he was shot. The CEO of the National Television Company of Ukraine, Zurab Alsasnia, said that evidence suggested Kernes had been ambushed during his jog by a sniper who studied the mayor's habits.

According to the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, the 2009 election campaign -- in which Kernes became mayor -- was tarnished with anti-Semitic hate speech targeting him and other Jewish candidates.

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