On Friday night, there were more anti-immigrant riots in southern Moscow, this time in the southwest suburb of Lyubertsy (map). This follows last week’s riots in Biryulyovo (map), which have heightened ethnic tensions across the country.
Nationalists also led riots in St. Petersburg on Sunday. – Ed.
In Lyubertsy, just outside Moscow, police prevented a mass brawl between a group of young people and foreign workers. About 80 people, including 60 minors, were arrested for various offenses, including disorderly conduct. This was reported today by ITAR-TASS, based on the information received from the press service of the Interior Ministry Main Department for the Moscow region.
As reported by the Main Department, on Friday night several groups of rebellious young men arrived in Lyubertsy. Some of them were carrying baseball bats, wearing beanies.
“The police had advance information on possible violations of law and order, and deployed additional outfits in the streets of the city. All the detainees were taken into police stations for booking, where in addition to the staff dealing with juvenile offenders the prosecutor’s office staff were present, as well as psychologists and educators from civil institutions,” said the press service.
The department noted that, after the preventive conversations, all minors were registered and released. “For the 18 adults, formal notes of administrative offences were taken, and a possible organizer who allegedly tried to incite riots was arrested,” reported the police.