The Union of Councils for Soviet Jews reports on 6 January 2006 about another vandalism against the Armenians of Russia.

archival photo: another Armenian religous monument desecrated by Russian neo-fascists, known as "skinheads"

Unidentified vandals smashed a cross erected by the Armenian community of Syktyvkar, Russia (Komi Republic), according to a December 28, 2005 report by Igor Sazhin, head of the local branch of the human rights group Memorial, a participating NGO in a European Commission sponsored project to monitor xenophobia in Russia (UCSJ, the Moscow Helsinki Group, and the Moscow Bureau on Human Rights are the main grantees of the project).

The recently erected cross was broken in two at some point the previous day. Mr. Sazhin believes that the vandalism was the work of local neo-fascists, whom he blames for the still unsolved December 1, 2005 arson attack against a mosque in the city. The Armenian community plans to rebuild the cross.