25 non-Russians killed this year in racist attacks
Russian human rights defenders report that over the first four months of this year there were over 200 racially motivated attacks in which 25 people were killed and 154 wounded.
Deputy Director of the analytical centre Sova, Galina Kozhevnikova, told reporters on Wednesday that the number of racial hate crimes this year was a third higher than over the same period a year ago.
She said that the attacks had taken place in 19 Russian regions, with most occurring in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod. “In Moscow this year 17 people have died at the hands of skinheads, and 52 have been injured. In St. Petersburg, 3 have died and 40 have sustained injuries, while in Nizhny Novgorod 29 people have been the victims of racist attacks.”
Ms Kozhevnikova added that there are around 60 thousand skinheads at present in Russia. They mainly attack people from the Caucuses and from Central Asia, although they can also target representatives of youth subcultures and sexual minorities.
The Sova site points out that on 1 May in Moscow, together with traditional May Day demonstrators, there was also a nationalist march, with slogans like: “Russia doesnt need a coloured country anymore!”, “Down with immigrants, higher wages!” “Fuck off out of here” [the Russian was a little more circumspect, but this is the meaning – translator]. The march in which around 500 people took place concluded with a rally outside the Ostankino Television Centre