Antisemitic graffiti on the wall of the Torat Chaim Yeshiva in Moscow. Photo: NCSEJ.

Antisemitic vandals in Moscow caused extensive damage but no injuries or fatalities when they attacked a yeshiva in the Russian capital last Friday night, as Jews around the world celebrated the Passover holiday.

An statement on Monday from NCSEJ — a Washington, DC-based human rights organization advocating on behalf of Jews in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union — said that the Torat Chaim Yeshiva in eastern Moscow suffered extensive damage after vandals lit a storage area on fire and scrawled antisemitic graffiti on the building.

On the wall of the synagogue attached to the yeshiva, the vandals sprayed the slogan “Death Lives!” alongside a swastika and the numerals “88” — the shorthand used by neo-Nazis for “Heil Hitler.”

The fire destroyed Torat Chaim’s storage area for kosher meat.

The building was empty at the time of time attack, and the sixty rabbis, students and others celebrating Passover at the yeshiva were unharmed, NCSEJ said. The group added that it had spoken on Monday with a representative of Chief Rabbi of Moscow Pinchas Goldschmidt “to confirm the safety of those at Torat Chaim.”

NCSEJ said it was urging the Russian authorities “to fully investigate this brazen antisemitic attack and to swiftly bring those guilty to justice.”

The group said that government officials also needed “to provide adequate security to ensure the safety and well-being of those at Torat Chaim and other Jewish sites.”