Medvedev warns extremists

Russia's president says special attention should be paid to the fight against extremism and nationalism in the country. Dmitry Medvedev told the Interior Ministry that detecting threats to the Russia's national security should be of primary importance.

“Security agencies continue to focus on the fight against illegal armed groups that try to destabilise the situation in the country and in particular in the Northern Caucasus. The Russian Federal Security Service has managed to prevent the activities of 130 terrorist and extremist organisations this year. The groups are financed through international criminal rings as well as arms and drug-smuggling channels,” said Medvedev.

Also on Tuesday, the Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office announced that the number of extremist crimes in Russia over the past three years has increased significantly. In the first half of 2008 the country recorded 250 extremist acts, of which
19 were murders -17 committed by youths, which prosecutors consider to be the biggest problem.

They also reported that there are over 500 sites in the Russian Internet that encourage national or ethnic hatred.