Mass scuffle in Moscow: 42 detained

Forty two people have been arrested as a result of mass fighting in central Moscow. For now, the incident is being described as ethnically motivated. A Jordanian journalist working for the RT's Arabic sister station, Rusiya Al-Yaum, has also been attacked

After being severely beaten up in one of the cities underpasses, Al Masri Motassem is recovering in hospital. The muggers managed to escape after robbing him.

In a separate incident, a Chechen national was injured in a large scuffle between members of a right-wing group opposed to illegal immigration and Caucasian nationals.

Law enforcement officials say the group had organised an unsanctioned rally to mark the Day of Memory and Grief for the victims of World War Two.

“The information appeared on the websites of nationalist organisations. They urged people to mark June 22 by going out onto the streets. The police managed to prevent all provocations,” Viktor Biryukov, from Moscow Police information centre, commented.  

In all, 42 people were arrested.

“Left radical organisations were unable to hold the march of protest on the streets of Moscow. That's why they are trying to stir up society by provoking people in inter-ethic violence. In several districts of the city, members of nationalist organisations tried to cause provocations among Moscow citizens, but those attempts were stopped,” Anatoly Lastovetsky from Russia's Main Department of Internal Affairs, explained.

Moscow's Mayor Yury Luzkov has condemned the recent violence.

“Any display of chauvinism, xenophobia, nationalism will be harshly repressed in our capital on the basis of the constitution which persecutes for national discord,” the mayor stressed.