Korbukh

MEMORANDUM **

Leonid M. Korbukh, a native and citizen of Russia, petitions for review of a final order of removal issued by the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) affirming the Immigration Judge (“IJ”)’s denial of his applications for asylum and withholding of removal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 (a), and we grant the petition for review.

Where, as here, the BIA adopts the IJ’s decision “for the reasons set forth therein,” we “review the IJ’s decision as the final agency determination.” Knezevic v. Ashcroft, 367 F.3d 1206, 1210 (9th Cir. 2004). The IJ’s factual findings are reviewed for substantial evidence. Halaim v. INS, 358 F.3d 1128, 1131 (9th Cir.2004). Crediting Korbukh’s testimony, Aguilera-Cota v. INS, 914 F.2d 1375, 1383 (9th Cir.1990) (absent “explicit and direct finding” of adverse credibility, court should assume petitioner’s testimony is truthful), we conclude that Korbukh’s experiences in Russia cumulatively compel a finding that he was persecuted on account of his Jewish ethnicity, see Korablina v. INS, 158 F.3d 1038, 1044 (9th Cir.1998) (“A single isolated incident may not ‘rise to the level of persecution, [but] the cumulative effect of…