A street fight that occurred Sunday in Stavropol left two young Russians stabbed to death. Earlier, on May 24, a Chechen was killed in a brawl between Russians and Chechens.
A law enforcement officer played down the protest, saying: "There was no rally as such; there was a meeting of territorial government representatives with the population on Lenin Square. This was really an unsanctioned action."
The officer, who put the number of protestors at 500, said there were about 30 policemen on the square.
Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev ruled out Tuesday that the two Russians were killed on race-hate motives. "So far at least, we have information suggesting that this crime does not stand aside from others," he said.
Tensions between Russians and Chechens flared up in the northern Russian town of Kondopoga, in the Republic of Karelia, in September last year after two local Russian residents were killed and nine others injured in a restaurant brawl with Chechens.
The incident sparked racially-motivated violence in the community, and a wave of nationalist protests elsewhere in the country. A total of 109 people were detained in the city on suspicion of involvement in pogroms and arson attacks, and 25 rioters were arrested. Seventeen criminal cases were opened following the incident.
