Anti-Fascist Youth Activist Killed In MoscowA member of an anti-fascist youth group in Russia has been shot dead in Moscow, according to investigators.
Violent clashes between activists have become more common in Russia's capital
The young man died from head wounds after being shot during a clash with ultra-nationalists in eastern Moscow on Monday evening.
It is reported that he was the informal leader of a committee called Collective Action and is the sixth anti-fascist to be killed in the capital since 2006.
A spokeswoman from the committee identified the victim as 26-year-old Ivan Khutorskoy during an interview with a Moscow-based radio station.
Mr Khutorskoy's role in the group included organising security at anti-fascist rock concerts and he also ran free-style fighting tournaments.
He was nicknamed "Bonebreaker" and had reportedly taken part in street battles with Russian nationalists.
This was not the first time Mr Khutorskoy had been attacked by nationalists.
It is thought he had survived attacks involving a knife, a baseball bat and a screwdriver on three previous occasions.
Fascist gangs have become a growing problem in Russia in recent years and as a result anti-fascist youth groups have raised their profiles.
The fascist gangs typically target non-Slavic migrants and people they perceive as anti-Russian.
Confrontations in Moscow have become increasingly common and violent.
Experts have linked the killing to the arrests earlier this month of two nationalists suspected of the high-profile shooting of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova in January.
Russian anti-fascist activist shot dead in Moscow* Death follows arrests of ultra-nationalists
* 26-year-old campaigner died on spot
MOSCOW, Nov 17 (Reuters) - An anti-fascist campaigner was shot dead in Moscow, investigators said on Tuesday, in what a fellow activist said may have been revenge for the arrests of ultra-nationalists earlier this month.
A man opened fire on an "active member of the anti-fascist movement" on Monday evening in the Russian capital, state investigators said in a statement. He died on the spot.
Local media reports identified him as 26-year-old Ivan Khutorskoy.
"Various motives are being explored, including that he was murdered for his involvement in the anti-fascist movement," the investigative branch of the Prosecutor-General's Office said in a statement posted on their website, sledcomproc.ru.
Earlier in November, two ultra-nationalists were arrested for the murder of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and opposition reporter Anastasia Baburova, who were gunned down in broad daylight near the Kremlin in January.
In 2006, Markelov represented the mother of an anti-fascist campaigner who he said was killed by neo-Nazis.
A fellow anti-fascist campaigner, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters Monday's murder could be out of spite: "Ivan (Khutorskoy) knew Markelov. His murder was either revenge, or a challenge to the authorities following the arrests."
Leftist political website ikd.ru wrote: "For the majority of Ivan's friends, it's clear that his murder was carried out by Russian Nazis."
Russia suffers from a high number of street attacks on its migrant workers, mostly dark-skinned Muslims who come from former Soviet countries, that are widely blamed on neo-Nazis. (Reporting by Amie Ferris-Rotman; Editing by Charles Dick)
Leader of Russian anti-fascist skinheads killed in MoscowIvan Khutorskoy, one of the leaders of the Russian left-wing skinhead movement was shot dead in Moscow on Monday evening. The victim’s friends and relatives see political motives behind the murder.
Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda reports that 26-year-old Khutorskoy was killed with two pistol shots in the back of the head in the stairwell of the apartment building where he lived.
According to several Russian leftist skinhead websites, Ivan Khutorskoy was one of the leaders of the movement in Russia. His activities included providing security at concerts and organizing mixed fights among young leftists and anarchists. Khutorskoy survived three attempts on his life over the past four years. In 2005, several attackers slashed his head with a razor. Later he was repeatedly stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver and beaten with a baseball bat, and he was stabbed in the stomach with a knife in January this year.
The “Collective Action” website wrote on Tuesday that all Khutorskoy’s friends and comrades blamed the murder on Russian neo-Nazi groups.
The website also reminded that this was the sixth time an anti-fascist activist has been killed in Moscow over the past 5 years. Police have solved one such case, after which several activists of right-wing skinhead groups were sentenced to prison terms.
Andrei Mergenyov is imprisoned in Saratov after a fight with a Nazi in June 2007. Recently we received a following letter from him, and we translated it just to remind you about one of the less known Russian anti-fascist prisoners.
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