Primorye Chief Rabbi Yisroel Silberstein (a US citizen) was attacked on a central street of Vladivostok, a source in the FJC told the Interfax News Agency on Thursday.

“A short man wearing a hood hit the rabbi on the head. The rabbi fell down unconscious, and the assailant grabbed his bag containing an expensive laptop and ran away,” he said.

Rabbi Silberstein regained consciousness and went home unaided, but had to call an ambulance from home. The ambulance vehicle took him to hospital. Doctors diagnosed the rabbi with concussion.

The rabbi made a statement to the Vladivostok police, but the immediate search for the assailant was fruitless. A criminal case was opened.

The federation said it might have been a mere felony, not an anti-Semitic crime.