A prominent Ukranian Jewish businessman was shot and killed on Saturday night in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine's fourth largest city. Police say Gennady Axelrod was shot by a man on a bicycle. Police continue to investigate the attack. Ukranian media sources report that police believe the attack was not motivated by anti-Semitism, but because Axelrod's company had left unpaid debts after declaring bankruptcy in 2011. According to the RBK-Ukraine news agency, Axelrod was shot in his car when he arrived home on Saturday evening. RBK also reported that Axelrod was one of the founders of the Menorah Center, one of the largest Jewish community centers in the world, and an influential member of his local Jewish community. A police representative quoted on the site confirmed details of the attack, also saying that this was not the first attack on Axelrod's life. Axelrod is vice-president of the PFG Sparta Company, a real estate development firm, which filed for bankruptcy in 2011. Axelrod and his associates, Gennady Korban and Oleg Levin, were released from millions of dollars in debt following the bankruptcy suit and an attempt on their lives was made in a restaurant bombing in the summer of 2011. According to the Ukranian Journal of Business Entrepreneurs, business scuffles and debt issues are often settled out of court, with people taking matters into their own hands, especially when they are unsatisfied with court rulings releasing businessmen from debt. Members of the Menorah community are shocked and saddened by Axelrod's death. Meanwhile, Ichilov Hospital reports that there has been no change in the condition of Aharon Alexander, the 25-year old yeshiva student who sustained head injuries during an attack in Kiev on April 7. He was flown to Israel on Wednesday for further treatment. He has been unconscious since his arrival to Israel, anesthetized and ventilated.
