MOSCOW, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Leading politicians in Russia have been silent over what is being viewed as rising xenophobic trends, including violence, in Russian society.
As many as 50 "non-Russian-looking" people may have been killed in Moscow this year by ultra-nationalist gangs of teenagers, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported Friday.
he existence of such gangs was first reported in late October when a well-known chess player from Russia's Republic of Yakutia was stabbed to death. Police arrested six teens in connection with the chess player's killing and the stabbing of an Uzbek street cleaner.
The news agency said the teens told police they were carrying out attacks on people they deemed to be "non-Russians."
In an editorial Friday the newspaper Vremya Novostei expressed concern that politicians were ignoring the problem.
"Today when the unification of the nation is declared a priority, it would be politically inconvenient to admit the obvious nationalistic sentiments in the country," the newspaper wrote.
