Racism in Russia - Manifestations in The 21st Century

Manifestations in The 21st Century

On 9 February 2004, a group of nazi-skinheads stabbed a nine-year old Tajik girl, Khursheda Sultanova, to death by in Saint Petersburg. In 2006, the Saint Petersburg Agency for Journalistic Investigations revealed suspected perpetrators among the members of the "Mad Crowd" gang. On 14 June 2011, The Saint Petersburg City Court sentenced 12 members of the gang led by Alexei Voevodin and Artyom Prokhorenko for their roles in dozens of racist attacks.

On 12 August 2007, a snuff video titled "The Execution of a Tajik and a Dagestani" appeared on the internet, showing two members of Russian National Socialist Party killing two Muslim men in front of a Nazi flag. It was later identified that one of the victims was 24 year old Shamil Odamanov, a Kumyk from Republic of Dagestan. Victor Milkov, a student from Maykop who distributed the footage, was sentenced to penal labour for a year.

On 15 December 2008, Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky were sentenced to penal labour for 10 years each for the murder of 19 foreigners. They were placed on the list of people banned from entering the United Kingdom, remaining the only Russians on the list. The reason given is that they are “Leaders of a violent gang that beat migrants and posted films of their attacks on the internet. Considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by fomenting serious criminal activity and seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts.” A judge, who conducted the trial, Eduard Chuvashov, has been gunned down on 12 April 2010, four days after he added two years to the 20-year prison sentence of a member of their gang.

On 20 April 2011, Konstantin Poltoranin, spokesman for Federal Migratory Service was fired after saying the “survival of the white race was at stake.”