Fed by the war in Chechnya, nationalist sentiment has been on the rise in Russia, manifested in neo-Nazi marches, racially-motivated crime and anti-Caucasus sentiment. A demonstration last week was a case in point, sanctioned by Moscow authorities, it was organized by ultranationalists ostensibly held to honor the victims of a February 6 blast in the Moscow metro, which has been blamed on Chechen rebels. But the protest in Gorky Park turned into a railing against foreign "invasion of Russia," with teenagers chanting "Moscow is a Russian city. Russia for Russians. Moscow for Muscovites," and holding up a banner that read: "Say no to registration (for foreigners), says yes to deportation."

The subway blast, the last in a series of increasing suicide attacks in Russia blamed on Chechen rebels, prompted anti-Caucasian leaflets calling for protection of the "white race." The Chechen rebels have not claimed responsibility for the blast.

Latest IT News The art of Italian cooking recipes is a fun and easy way to learn about using new and varied food items and natural herbs reliance you may have never used before for lack of knowledge and thus, begin on an interesting new gastronomical journey to tickle your taste buds, heighten your senses and change the moods for everyone around. News Website Template. All content on this website is © Copyright 2000-2010 - All Rights Reserved Website template powered by VooWeb.com News Website Template The content on this site may not be reused or republished. News Website Template

Activists such as Lev Ponomaryov of the "For Human Rights" group say that Moscow's four-year-plus war in Chechnya is at the root of the problem, sparking "hatred against an ethnic group (which) automatically becomes racism". "The greatest concern is that there are no people who feel shame for this," Levada said. "Xenophobia, which was part of new Russia's history, was so far latent. Now it is legitimized," Ponomaryov said. An example of this was the unexpected success of the nationalist Motherland (Rodina) bloc in the December parliamentary elections. Another are television series showing brave Russian troopers fighting Chechen "bandits", the latest vogue on Russia's national channels. Other Russian ethnic groups have also been identified with Chechens, forging what police call a "Caucasian individual," Levada said. Caucasians already take care to stay away from Moscow markets on Hitler's birthday and Army Day, fearing attacks by skinheads or celebrating soldiers.

Meanwhile, racial crimes make headlines almost every week, such as last month's murder of a nine-year-old Tajik girl, who was stabbed to death by suspected teenage skinheads Also last month, an African student from Guinea-Bissau was clubbed to death in Voronezh, launching a swath of protests by black students, though police had denied the racial nature of this crime.

According to the Expertisa foundation's recent research, a third of all Russians would like to limit foreign access to Russia, with 60 percent against Caucasians, 51 against the Chinese, 48 against the Vietnamese, 47 against those originating in Central Asia, 28 percent against Africans and Jews.

But another analyst, Boris Kagarlitsky, disagreed, saying that "after the Soviet Union's fall, Soviet values such as international friendship were automatically rejected, creating an ideological vacuum". Moreover, groups such as the young people and intelligentsia were "marginalized," demoralized by the shock of economic reforms and drawn to radical trends, he said.