Russian police launch operation against extremists

MOSCOW -- After skinheads declared "war on foreigners" and killed an Afghan interpreter, Russian police launched a nationwide operation Friday to thwart attacks by extremist youth groups ahead of Adolf Hitler's birthday.

Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov ordered increased police patrols starting Friday at places where violence is expected, including foreign embassies, soccer stadiums and outdoor markets where people from Central Asia and the Caucasus Mountains region often work as vendors.

The 113th anniversary of Hitler's birth is Saturday.

The increased security was not enough, however, to prevent a small, homemade bomb from exploding Friday outside a synagogue in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. No injuries and no damages were reported, officials said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke out forcefully against racially motivated crime in an address to the nation Thursday.