In spring-summer, Russia saw over dozen mass fights where Chechens took part

In spring and summer this year, natives from Chechnya have taken part in at least a dozen mass fights, which burst out in different regions of the Russian Federation; several more were prevented. Experts indicate a high level of xenophobia in the country and a low level of tolerance, including among Chechens themselves.

Mass fights ended in casualties and victims. Those incidents reported by the "Caucasian Knot" in the last five months took away at least six human lives; 35 persons and more were wounded.

Most often representatives of law enforcement bodies attribute such incidents to everyday reasons. Thus, Evgeniy Gildeev, official spokesman of the GUVD (Chief Interior Department) for the Moscow Region, said in his comments on the fights of Muscovites with Caucasians that most often they burst out on some everyday grounds among young people.

Andrei Bachman, a political scientist from Volgograd, believes that neither law enforcers nor local authorities like the definition of "interethnic conflict", since it may entail most negative career consequences."

Experts emphasize that the level of xenophobia in the Russian society remains rather high. Social polls indicate that a significant number of Russians treat natives from the Caucasus with distrust and believe that they commit most of the crimes.

Alexei Malashenko, a political scientist from the Moscow-based Carnegie Centre and the author of the book about Ramzan Kadyrov notes that the problems related to migrants, who are growing in number, are aggravating in Russia. "This happens for objective reasons, as the people who come from the Caucasus to Russia belong to another culture, another religion and other life presentations. Anyway, these presentations differ; and they bring their behaviour models with them. It's inevitable," he says.