Mass brawl in the west of Moscow

On January 28, 2009, in Moscow on Davydkovskaya Street, not far from the Slavyansky Boulevard metro station, a mass brawl occurred, with the participation of natives of the Caucasus. About 20-40 people took part in the clash, most of them minors.

Several police squads arrived at the scene of the incident. According to some reports, riot police took part in detaining the instigators of the fight, but the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate did not officially confirm this information.

The participants in the clash fled when the police appeared. “Seven people from Transcaucasia” (according to other sources, 12 people) were detained and taken to the police station. After protocols on administrative offenses were drawn up and a preventive conversation was held, the detainees were released. Several passers-by received abrasions and bruises, but refused medical assistance. Until late in the evening, police squads were on duty near the Slavyansky Boulevard metro station and on the adjacent streets.

Several versions of the collision are being considered. According to the initial version, a group of young people of “Asian or Caucasian appearance” (about 40 people) for no apparent reason began to “bully passers-by of Slavic appearance.” According to another, about 60 teenagers gathered near this metro station and attacked young people of “Caucasian appearance” numbering 12-15 people. According to the third version, the fight occurred between immigrants from Transcaucasia and workers from a neighboring construction site, who are presumably immigrants from Central Asian countries. According to another version, the conflict between a group of young people and passing natives of Azerbaijan occurred because of a girl who had made an appointment with her friends near the Slavyansky Boulevard metro station.

Unfortunately, at the present time we cannot assess what happened, since all the proposed versions of the conflict do not seem impossible to us. However, it must be emphasized that the first two versions appear to be descriptions of a nationalistically motivated attack.

Sources

• Maryanova A. Neslavyansky Boulevard // Gazeta.ru. 2009. January 29.
• Kirilenko A. Slavic Arrow // Kasparov.ru. 2009. January 29.
• People from the Caucasus staged a mass fight in the west of Moscow // Homepage.ru.2009. January 29.
• A fight broke out in the west of Moscow, 7 people were detained // RBC. 2009. January 29.
• A mass brawl occurred this evening in the west of Moscow // Echo of Moscow. 2009. January 29.
• Incident in the west of Moscow: 40 Caucasians started a fight // Newsru.com. 2009. January 29.
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