Neo-Nazi group says it killed Ghanaian man

MOSCOW, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Neo-Nazi groups killed dozens in Russia last year, with one group posting a video on the Internet of the stabbing death of a Ghanaian man.

Britain's Sky News reported 71 killings by neo-Nazi death squads in 2009, among them the stabbing death of Solomon Attengo Gwa-jio in St. Petersburg.

The group Warriors of the White Revolution claimed responsibility for the Gwa-jio killing and posted a video of the attack in which the victim was stabbed 20 times. No arrests have been made.

Russia's largest ultranationalist organization, the Slavic Union, said it does not endorse violence.

Dmitry Dyomushkin, the group's leader, said the Slavic Union represents a legitimate challenge to the government. Members train in the woods outside Moscow with rifles, semi-automatic weapons and knives, he said.

"Sixty percent of Russians support our goals. But even with this majority we are not allowed to be part of the political process because the government has squeezed out opposition. The whole new generation of Russians are nationalists -- our influence on young people is very strong," Dyomushkin said.

The human rights group SOVA, based in Moscow, said police are finally dealing with the problem of extremist violence, but not for the best reasons.

"I think mostly it's not because of the murders themselves but because the potential of riots based on this ethnic hatred," Alexander Verkhovsky, SOVA's director, said. "The authorities would hate to lose control over some district or city, and so they try to suppress any activity including violent activity that may turn into such riots."