Moscow riot police detained about 1,000 people suspected of planning acts of ethnic violence at rival rallies in the Russian capital today.
"A lot of them are minors so we will call in their parents and work with them so they teach their children to behave," said Viktor Biryukov, a spokesman for the state police in Moscow, by phone. Several of them were carrying knives, he said, adding the situation in the city "is normal now, all is quiet".
Thousands of fans of Moscow's Spartak soccer club gathered near Red Square on December 11th to protest the December 6th shooting death of a Spartak fan during a fight with migrants from the North Caucasus.
Young men chanting racist slogans attacked police and passersby at the rally, footage on Grani TV showed. Dozens of people were hospitalised and 66 arrested for the attacks, which Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev blamed on nationalists.
"Radicals" from Central Asia and the Caucasus region were planning to gather near Kievsky train station tonight to protest the weekend attacks, while Russian nationalist groups are meeting near Red Square, Mr Biryukov said. The locations are about 3km apart, or three stops on the subway.
President Dmitry Medvedev ordered police to "clean up" the streets after the incident and condemned "crimes aimed at race, ethnicity or religion."
Bloomberg