The presence of some of the most notorious neo-Nazis and racists in Europe - including the former leader of the British National Party, Nick Griffin - at last Sunday's "Russian International Conservative Forum" in St Petersburg, has raised eyebrows in the West. After all, isn't Russia still proud of the Great Patriotic War it fought against fascism? And isn't its leader a friend of the Jews?
Ask any rabbi or Jewish leader in Moscow about President Vladimir Putin's attitude towards Jews and you will get glowing testimonials about his respect for Judaism, his donation of a month's salary to the new Jewish museum, his intolerance of antisemitism. In the long line of tyrants who have ruled Russia over the centuries, it seems he is the lone Judeophile.
The reasons why the hatred still so prevalent in Russia is not shared by Mr Putin are legend. Some link it to his childhood in what was then Leningrad, where his closest friends and judo sparring partners were Jewish (the Rotenberg brothers are to this day oligarchs in his closest circle). Apparently, he enjoyed munching matzahs with them on Pesach. There were even Jewish teachers who saw the boy's potential back then and, during a state visit to Israel, he met one who lives today in Tel Aviv.
Others explain that Mr Putin, who sees the disintegration of the USSR as the worst geopolitical disaster in history, believes that if only the Communist leaders had embraced their Jewish comrades, their genius would have contributed to Soviet dominance.
They say he keenly regrets the loss of two million Jews who emigrated since the Iron Curtain came down.
There is of course another view: that the ruthlessly pragmatic and cynical Mr Putin thinks that antisemitism is a waste of time and prefers to have positive ties to those who are perceived as being skilled in finance and media. In early 2014, when a new government, hostile to Russia, came to power in Kiev, the Kremlin's propaganda machine was quick to brand them as neo-Nazis and antisemites, a claim only partially true and aimed principally at smearing the Ukrainian democrats in the eyes of the West. Many believe that the acts of vandalism on shuls in Ukraine in the weeks after the revolution were the work of Russian provocateurs.
On closer inspection, Mr Putin seems to have his uses for Jew-haters. Griffin and his ilk are among Russia's most ardent supporters in the West. They predict the downfall of institutions such as Nato and the EU, and the rise of a xenophobic and homophobic Russia that will fight for the bad old values of Europe.
A cursory examination of the "experts" much beloved of the Kremlin-funded Russia Today television channel will reveal that among the conspiracy theories many of them propagate is Holocaust denial. It is also interesting to see that many of the Russian "volunteers" who have been advising the separatist forces fighting in eastern Ukraine over the past year have been members of ultra-nationalist and Judeophobic movements within Russia. Mr Putin's much-vaunted intolerance of Jew-hatred doesn't seem to have extended to them.
