25 June 2007, 14:34
Timur Muzaev: fight of Russian nationalists with Caucasian natives in Moscow was a provocation
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 22 late at night in the vicinity of the Slavyanskaya Square in the centre of Moscow mass collisions burst out between the members of nationalist and fascist groupings and Caucasian natives.
As a result of the fight in Kitaigorodsky Passway, one Russian citizen, a Chechen by nationality, got a knife wound and was hospitalized, the "Gazeta.ru" reports.
In total, according to law enforcement bodies, some 50 persons took part in this nationalism-motivated clash. According to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, there were some 100-150 fight participants.
The Department for Information and Public Relations of Moscow's City Interior Administration (GUVD) has disseminated a statement on suppressing an attempt of mass interethnic-motivated collisions on June 22 in several places of the Russian capital - Fili and Manezhnaya and Slavyanskaya Squares. Supporters of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (MAII) and other nationalist organizations were named to be the provokers of the clashes.
Militiamen detained 43 persons for violating the public order, including citizen I. Sergeev, born in 1988, a native of Volgograd, who is suspected of inflicting bodily injuries to citizen D. Aganesyan, born in 1990.
The MAII leader, known under nickname of Alexander Belov, was detained, the "Caucasian Knot" informs.
Meanwhile, political scientist Timur Muzaev, an expert in the sphere of interethnic relations, is convinced, that the fight of Russian nationalists with Caucasian natives in Moscow on June 22 "was in fact a provocation," a pre-planned political fight with elements of hooliganism.
"Everything was known well in advance. Announcements were placed on the Internet and letters were sent to MAII supporters and representatives of other nationalist organizations. That is, it was a pre-announced conflict," Radio Liberty quotes the political scientist.
In Timur Muzaev's opinion, now leader of the MAII Belov urgently needs, after a failure to spin up the situation in Stavropol, any information occasion to mobilize his forces on the eve of serious political events.
A video report made on June 22 by cameramen of the Anti-War Club in Slavyanskaya Square of Russian capital is available at the Voinenet.ru.