ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, June 16 (UPI) -- An assistant to the Israeli ambassador to Russia had his purse stolen and was robbed of documents and approximately $2,900, officials said Sunday.
Russia's Interior Ministry initially reported Saturday Israeli ambassador Dorit Golender was the one who was robbed.
"On June 15, the Israeli ambassador turned to the police with a statement that at 12:30 p.m. on the palace embankment, an unidentified person stole his purse that contained $400, a diplomatic card and a bank card, from which unidentified persons later withdrew over $2,500," the ministry said.
The Israeli Embassy, though, said it was Golender's first secretary who had actually been robbed.
"Israel's ambassador to Russia in the past three years has been Mrs. Dorit Golender, a person who is well-known here and who takes many efforts to establish and expand ties between the two countries in all spheres, cultural and economic," said Alex Kagalsky, the embassy's adviser on media relations.
Golender had not been in St. Petersburg Saturday, RIA Novosti reported.
"One of the embassy's first secretaries, indeed, had his purse stolen on Palace Square [in St. Petersburg]," he said.
