Moscow/Agency Caucasus – Two Caucasians died after they were attacked by unidentified gunmen in Moscow on December 9.
The event refueled fears among North Caucasians of exposure to racist violence in Moscow, Russia’s capital.
The gunmen fired with an automatic machine at a Mercedes in southwestern Moscow at 9.45 pm. The Abkhazian driver, 42, and his Ossetian friend, 37, were killed in the attack.
The police’s response to the event was interpreted as an evasion of the actual reason behind similar killings: Racist violence against foreigners.
Two Azerbaijanis were killed in Moscow on August 30 for similar reasons.
Oleg Gioyev, a North Caucasian businessman, was also killed in Moscow on April 18 when a bomb exploded while he was in his office.
Over 300 attacks across the 31 provinces of Russia in the past one year were linked to national hatred, according to data from the Sova analytic center. Most racist crimes tend to occur in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Nijnii Novgorod. The Amnest International reported in May that hatred against foreigners became one serious cause for trouble across Russia. KU/ÖZ/FT
