Russian Jews horrified by MP’s ‘shameful’ slur

A pro-Kremlin lawmaker is under fire for saying the ancestors of local Jewish opposition figures in Saint-Petersburg “boiled Christians in cauldrons.”

Vitaly Milonov, a Duma deputy known for his anti-gay initiatives, lashed out at the weekend at two local lawmakers leading a protest against handing over St. Isaac’s basilica, a top landmark in Russia’s second largest city, to the Russian Orthodox Church.

“Christians survived despite the fact that the ancestors of Boris Vishnevsky and Maksim Reznik boiled us in cauldrons and fed us to animals,” ultra-conservative Milonov said at a rally yesterday to support the controversial handover.

The statement triggered a storm of criticism, with another local lawmaker Alexei Kovalev petitioning for a criminal probe into possible incitement of hatred while prominent Jewish figures said it was shameful and could spark religious tensions.

— AFP