A man wielding a knife has stabbed at least eight people at a Moscow synagogue.

The man, described as a skinhead, burst into the synagogue on Bolshaya Bronnaya street during evening prayers.

He struck out at random before being wrestled to the ground by the rabbi and his son, Itar-Tass news agency said. The man is now in police custody.

Four of those injured are in a serious condition, reports say.

Rabbi Yitzhak Kogan, quoted by Itar-Tass, said the attacker had shouted "I will kill you" before lashing out indiscriminately with his knife.

He was identified as a 20-year-old Muscovite.

Several ambulances were called to the scene in central Moscow to deal with the casualties.

Russia's Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar announced he was cutting short a visit to Israel and returning to Moscow. He called on the Russian authorities to fight the "brown plague" of fascism.

In recent years, there have been a number of attacks on synagogues and Jewish centres across Russia.