There were several anti-immigrant riots across Russia this weekend, including in St. Petersburg. This follows a week of intense inter-racial tension, following last weekend’s anti-minority riots in Moscow – Ed.
NTV.Ru got the first footage of the events in St. Petersburg, where nationalists rioted after an authorized rally
In the footage, taken after a meeting of St. Petersburg nationalists, you can see the crowds of young people running down the sidewalk on the Nevsky Prospekt. All this took place immediately after the meeting at Marsovo Pole, where the participants protested against the detention of their fellow nationalist Alexander Bondarik, and demanded the resignation of the governor as well as the top officials of the local Department of the Interior .
After the meeting about 200 of its participants started marching towards Nevsky Prospekt, and from there to Gostiny Dvor. They threw smoke bombs at cars, chanting slogans like “Russia for Russians”, “One for all and all for one!”, and beating up several people of non-Slavic appearance. In the end, the crowd moved to the territory of the consumer goods market Apraksin Dvor, controlled by “Caucasians”. The crowd of protesters was fuelled by a rumor that a teenager had been hit on the head at the market.
The Nationalists started to ignite smoke bombs and smash the showcases. The police detained 16 people, all of them minors. There were injuries: we know that one teenager was treated for a fracture.