Accessibility links

Breaking News

Moscow Police Arrest 1,000 In Bid To Stave Off Ethnic Riots


Moscow Police Try To Ward Off Ethnic Clashes
please wait

No media source currently available

0:00 0:00:47 0:00

(WATCH: Police arrest thousands across Moscow. Video by RFE/RL's Russian Service.)

Moscow police have arrested more than 1,000 people across the city center in a bid to prevent ethnic clashes from erupting following the deadly shooting of a football fan.

Moscow city police spokesman Vitkor Biryukov said many of the arrests were made at the Kievsky train station, where police deployed more than 1,000 riot troops in anticipation of a street battle that had been reportedly scheduled there.

Scuffles erupted outside the Kievsky station, which is popular with traders from the Caucasus, as hundreds of riot police rounded up and detained young men and teenagers shouting racist slogans.

Biryukov said "several air guns, knives, clubs, and and stun guns" were confiscated. He added that police patrols had been stepped up throughout the center of the city.

Rumours of the Kievsky station standoff spread across the Russian Internet following a weekend riot outside the Kremlin involving some 5,000 football fans and elements of the far right.

compiled from agency reports

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG