Eight young men and one woman are due to stand trial accused of 19 murders and 13 attempted murders. The Moscow prosecutor’s office brought the charges after an investigation into more than three dozen racial attacks around the city between August 2006 an
Police say half of those charged were under 18 at the time the crimes were committed. Most of the victims were men who the assailants described as of non-Slavic appearance. The young men would beat their victims before knifing them. The assaults had been going on for almost a year when police arrested two gang members. One of the accused allegedly confessed to committing the murders, which led to further arrests. Currently eight of the nine so-called ‘skinheads’ are in custody. One has been released on condition they remain in the city.