A Series of Neo-nazi Attacks in Moscow

On October 20, 2007, in Moscow, a group of up to 30 teenagers, presumably football fans, attacked several people, and as a result one of the victims died. All of the assaulted people were of "non-Slavic" appearance. The incidents took place after a football match between the "Spartak" and "Moskva" clubs.

At around 5 p.m. on Architect Vlasov street, Sergey Nikolaev, a native of Yakutia and a 46 year-old well-known chess player and businessman, was attacked by a mob of young people armed with baseball bats and knives. Nikolaev was severely beaten and received 10 knife wounds. He died on the scene.

Later in the same day, the mob moved to the neighboring Nametkina street where two more attacks were carried out. Galidzhan Gulyashov, a 37 year-old street cleaner from Uzbekistan, and Salimjan Rakhmonov, a 28 year-old Tadjik, were hospitalized with serious traumas and wounds.

There is no information available about any attempts by the police to stop the mob from moving and thus prevent further violence, but however, later in the evening, 63 football fans of the "Spartak" team were detained in the area. Half of them were released the same evening, with the others held in connection to the attacks.

The Moscow Prosecutor's Office initiated an investigation into the incident of assault leading to death committed by a group (article 111, part 4). The investigators have recognized the hate motive as one of the possible motives behind the crime.

On the following day, October 21, another Uzbeki individual was killed in Moscow as a result of a series of knife wounds. The attack was recorded by a safety camera mounted on a nearby building. To this date, the police have not cited a hate motive as connected to the crime.