MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti) - A man accused of stabbing eight people in a central Moscow synagogue has confessed that he was driven by anti-Semitic sentiments, prosecutors said Friday. According to the prosecutors, Alexander Koptsev, 20, said during questioning in the presence of his lawyers that he was "intolerant toward Jews and that he had committed the crime out of envy of them, because they live better."
The suspect said he had been under the influence of books and Internet sites, and added that he could not control himself.
Prosecutors said Koptsev had indicated that he felt sympathy for his victims and had not wished them death. "One of the main factors behind the incident was my desire to die," prosecutors quoted him as saying.
Koptsev was charged Friday with the attempted murder of two or more people due to ethnic or religious motives, committing acts designed to denigrate a group of people due to their religion or ethnic background, and causing grievous bodily harm due to religious motives.
Moscow prosecutors said they would seek court permission to remand Koptsev in custody.
Also on Friday, two of Koptsev's victims were moved from intensive care to ordinary wards, a spokesman for a prominent Jewish organization said.
Borukh Gorin, a spokesman for the Russian Federation of Jewish Communities, said their condition was improving, but one other man remained in intensive care. He added that in all five people were still being treated in hospital, but three had already been discharged.
