The bodies of two Tajik nationals with brain injuries were found Sunday morning in southern Moscow. Both Tajiks were employed as unskilled workers by a local marketplace. A criminal case into the incident has been opened, the prosecutor's office said.
Russian and foreign human rights groups have raised concerns over growing xenophobic sentiments in the country in recent years.
People with non-Slavic features have repeatedly been attacked in apparently racially motivated crimes in Moscow, St. Petersburg and in many cases in the Central Russian city of Voronezh, home to many universities with foreign students.
The Russian president highlighted the importance of fighting hate crime at a meeting with Federal Security Service officials earlier this year. Days later, the interior minister reported a 27% rise in the number of solved race attacks in the past year.
