VZCZCXRO4936
RR RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #3254/01 3111831
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061831Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0653
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 003254 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL RS
SUBJECT: GOR LIMITS NATIONALIST RALLIES ON RUSSIAN DAY OF 
UNITY 
 
REF: A. 07 MOSCOW 5285 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Approximately 2,000 nationalist activists 
gathered in different parts of Moscow for the "Russian 
March," a rally organized by established nationalist groups, 
on Russia's Day of People's Unity.  The holiday, held since 
2005 on November 4 as a replacement for events remembering 
the October 1917 Revolution, had been associated in past 
years with nationalist marches throughout the country, the 
largest being in Moscow.  The ultranationalist Movement 
Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) staged an unofficial rally 
in central Moscow after city authorities denied it 
permission, reportedly resulting in the arrest of 500 
participants for illegal demonstration with no reports of 
injuries, according to the press.  Another group, the 
People's Union, organized a sparsely attended, but officially 
sanctioned meeting on a scenic Moscow riverside thoroughfare. 
 Fewer nationalists demonstrated than were originally 
predicted, with media outlets and police officers almost 
outnumbering the marchers. Low attendance at the rallies can 
be attributed to a few factors: lower government tolerance 
for organized displays of nationalism, disagreements between 
the leadership of different nationalist groups, low public 
interest in protests, and dipping temperatures. 
 
Nationalists Protested, Apprehended in Moscow 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Between 1,000 to 2,000 nationalist protesters, 
organized through internet maps and statements on the DPNI 
website, gathered after 1000 in the morning on November 4 
near the "Arbatskaya" subway station in central Moscow for 
the Russian March.  Notorious DPNI leader Alexander Belov 
headed the procession.  Police detained approximately 500 
predominantly young participants, many wearing surgical 
masks, from DPNI, Slavic Union, Russian Public Movement, the 
movement "People," and the "Memory" foundation during the 
banned demonstration.  Detained participants were charged 
with violating regulations against holding rallies since they 
had not received a government permit for the demonstration. 
Just before 1100 in the morning, approximately 300-400 
activists of various nationalist organizations paraded for 
half an hour down Moscow's famous Old Arbat before being 
surrounded by Special Purpose Police Detachment (OMON) forces 
and Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) officers contained 
them.  Some of the participants shouted "Forward Russians!" 
and "Moscow For Muscovites" and made Nazi salutes as they 
marched along the relatively empty pedestrian street. 
Several protesters tried to break through an OMON police 
cordon at the end of the street, and were detained.  While 
some activists became aggressive, eliciting a mildly violent 
response from OMON guards using batons, there were no reports 
of injuries.  Slavic Union leader Dmitriy Demushkin claimed 
that police beat detainees, and threatened to file a lawsuit. 
 Human rights observers visited the detention centers in the 
afternoon and reported no signs of mistreatment or abuse. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Intense media coverage and overwhelming police 
presence overshadowed the actual nationalist demonstrations. 
All of Russia's major television and radio programs deployed 
camera crews and reporters to the Arbat area, at times 
blocking adjoining streets to traffic as they searched for 
the best shot of approaching marchers.  The overbearing 
police presence snuffed out most spontaneous nationalist 
flares along the Arbat, including some relatively quiet youth 
waving tsarist-era flags and chanting, "Russia for Russians!" 
 Numerous locations in central Moscow were closed off by 
police to the public, including Red Square and some major 
subway entrances near the Arbat.  Police quickly apprehended 
protesters who lit smoke bombs and tossed smudge pots into 
main pedestrian walkways.  While we witnessed that police 
officers did not hesitate to act against protesters, on 
occasion with batons, on the whole they behaved in a civil 
manner.  Detainees, surrounded by television crews and 
photographers, were led gingerly by police officers to 
temporary buses along the highly-trafficked adjacent New 
Arbat until armored OMON vehicles arrived to transport them 
to detention facilities.  Red Square was closed to the public 
for most of the day and Kremlin tours were suspended mid-day 
(despite long lines waiting for entrance) to allow police to 
keep demonstrators far away from the Kremlin. 
 
Protests in Regions Mostly Peaceful 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Russian Marches outside of Moscow were held without 
incident.  The Vladivostok city authorities banned marches 
planned by ultranationalist groups, but allowed rallies by 
"activists of national patriotic public movements." 
Activists waved imperial banners, displayed logos, and 
shouted slogans, including "a Russian master for the Russian 
 
MOSCOW 00003254  002 OF 002 
 
 
land."  The sanctioned Russian March in Novosibirsk drew 200 
supporters carrying yellow, black, and white banners (DPNI 
colors) who clashed with some 25 anti-fascist protesters. 
After isolated skirmishes, the groups dispersed and no 
arrests were reported.  In Krasnoyarsk, approximately 300 
people attended a Russian March, while in Chita only 50 
participants showed up.  The St. Petersburg-based "Slav 
Union" organized a 100-person, city-approved rally through 
city streets without incident.  St. Petersburg police 
reported only 45 arrests throughout the day's activities, 
mostly for hooliganism and traffic violations. 
 
Russians Largely Not Interested in Protests? 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Despite the attention paid to nationalist protests 
in Russia, most Russians are disinclined to protest in 
general, according to research from the Levada Center. 
Researchers attributed the lack of enthusiasm to protest to 
financial stability:  only 8 percent of Russians claimed to 
feel the impact of the financial crisis personally, and 55 
percent of those surveyed believed the country was "heading 
in the right direction."  Several groups made strong 
statements in opposition to the actions of nationalist 
protesters.  The Congress of Peoples of the Caucasus demanded 
that authorities bring charges against DPNI for distributing 
leaflets with hate messages urging Russians to kill "persons 
of Caucasus nationality."  Additionally, the Naberezhny 
Chelny part of the All-Tatar Public Center called on the 
Kremlin to highlight the negative behavior of nationalists, 
protesting on a holiday meant to celebrate national unity, 
through television programs. 
 
Pro-Government Religious Leaders Welcome Holiday 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Religious groups also welcomed the holiday. 
Russian Orthodox Patriarch Aleksey II appealed to Russians to 
observe the Day of People's Unity as a day to "unite citizens 
regardless of their nationality."  Deputy Chairman of the 
Russian Council of Muftis Damir Gizatullin announced to the 
press that "modern Russia prospers thanks to the unity of 
nationalities and religions."  Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar 
announced that "relations between peoples and religions are 
very difficult in the modern world, so we must try to find 
solutions, seek mutual understanding and unity." 
 
Nationalist Violence Away from Public Eye 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Despite the relatively peaceful nationalist 
protests in central Moscow, nationalists continued to wage 
lethal battles with immigrants from Central Asia and the 
Caucasus in Moscow's poorer suburbs.  A report on November 4 
reported that a group of young Moscow skinheads carried out 
attacks on two Uzbek street sweepers, killing one with 
multiple stab wounds and inflicting wounds requiring 
hospitalization of the other.  The skinheads, who shouted 
nationalist slogans during the attack according to 
eyewitnesses, were rumored by locals to be avenging the 
October rape and murder of a 15-year old Russian girl, 
supposedly attacked by an Uzbek man.  Ekho Moskvy also 
reported that seventeen people were arrested after a large 
fight broke out in Solnechnogorsk, a distant Moscow suburb, 
over ethnic tensions.  Police confiscated stun guns, knives, 
and bats from Russian youths and combatants "from the 
Caucasus."  Youths also attacked a Turkmen diplomat around 
midday outside of the Turkmenistan consulate in central 
Moscow.  These violent incidents represent part of a larger 
trend, according to the Moscow Bureau of Human Rights, in 
that hate crimes in Russia in the first ten months of 2008 
increased by 50 percent over that of 2007.  Almost half of 
the crimes occurred in Moscow. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
8  (SBU) Although Russian authorities demonstrated force 
against center-stage Moscow protests in front of the cameras 
racial violence continues to rage throughout the Russian 
suburbs and countryside, providing a vent for nationalist 
sentiments. 
BEYRLE