Airborne Forces Day in Russia

On August 2, 2011, the celebration of Airborne Forces Day was traditionally marked by racist incidents involving drunken paratroopers.

In Astrakhan there was a mass fight between paratroopers and local residents. The paratroopers were heading to the cemetery to honor the memory of their fallen comrades. According to eyewitnesses, several people were drunk, behaved aggressively and provoked a conflict with visitors and traders of the Big Isady market, many of whom were from the Caucasus. During the conflict, a nearby mosque was damaged, with stones and sticks falling into its territory.

In Kazan, a group of former paratroopers (about 70 people) staged a destruction at one of the wholesale vegetable markets. When the police arrived at the scene, some of them fled. About 40 people were detained and taken to the police station.

In Yoshkar-Ola, at the Central Market, about 20 “blue berets” attacked three sellers. The attackers did not like the appearance of the traders. Employees of the road patrol, patrol services, and private security department dispersed the participants in the attack.

In Abakan (Khakassia), in the area of ​​the Central Market, two paratroopers attacked cheburek traders, immigrants from Azerbaijan. First, the paratroopers began to threaten one of the men. His brother, who was nearby, stood up for the seller, who reprimanded the foreigners, and the men tried to beat him. The seller fired into the air and warned that he would shoot to kill, but this did not stop the paratroopers. As a result of the conflict, young people, 25 and 27 years old, were taken to the hospital with leg injuries. The shooter was detained, but was soon released.

In Lipetsk, paratroopers, not finding natives of the Caucasus at the market, attacked the riot police.

In Magnitogorsk, at one of the markets, fruit trays of foreign traders were destroyed.

In Moscow, paratroopers attacked flower sellers of non-Slavic appearance near the Kievskaya metro station. From pursuit, the sellers tried to hide in the shopping center, the paratroopers wanted to catch up with them there, but the security managed to resist this. (The police did not confirm this information).

According to forum materials, in Kirov the mini-market on the street was damaged. Fayansova.

In Ulyanovsk , Izhevsk and Perm, police officers managed to prevent pogroms at vegetable markets. Sources

• The paratroopers began Airborne Forces Day with a service in the church, and ended with pogroms of tents with flowers and an attack on a vegetable warehouse // Newsru.com. 2011. August 2.
• Moskvina I. Paratroopers beat up traders at the Yoshkar-Ola market // Mariyskaya Pravda. 2011. August 2.
• Razumnaya Yu. Day of the Airborne Forces continued with the assault // Ytro.ru. August 2.
• A group of former paratroopers staged a pogrom at one of the markets in Kazan // Echo of Moscow. 2011. August 2.
• Durnitsina I. Paratroopers staged a pogrom at one of the markets in Kazan // RIA Novosti. 2011. August 2.
• In Magnitogorsk, on Airborne Forces Day, fruit stalls of foreign traders were destroyed // New Region. 2011. August 3.
• In Abakan, Airborne Forces Day ended with a shootout between a native of the Caucasus and paratroopers // News Agency Khakassia. 2011. August 3.
• Based on materials from online forums.