Racist attacks record first fall in Russia

Racist attacks in Russia fell for the first time in six years, but the level of hate crime remains terrifying.

Racist attacks in Russia fell in 2009 for the first time in six years, thanks to a police crackdown on far-right groups, but the level of hate crime remains ''terrifying,'' a report said Wednesday.

- For the first time in six years of monitoring, we see an obvious fall in the number of victims of racist and neo-Nazi-motivated violence - Sova, an NGO that monitors hate crimes, said in its annual report.

Nevertheless, it warned that ''despite all the efforts, the scale of racist violence is still terrifying.''

Last year, 71 people were killed in racist attacks, down by a third on the previous year's figure of 110, the report said. A further 333 people were injured in racist attacks last year, down from 487 in 2008.

The NGO found that 29 of those killed last year came from Central Asia, while 11 came from the Caucasus region.

The fall in cases is partly thanks to the police and law courts, the report said. - In the second half of 2008 and in 2009 (they) eliminated the largest and most aggressive far-right groups in the Moscow region - it added.

On Monday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin praised the authorities for cutting the number of racist attacks.

- In my view, there has been a reaction by the authorities, and it fully corresponds to the level of the threat - he said.

The report warned that far-right groups are shifting their tactics to ''terror against the state.''

Attacks motivated by racism rose after the fall of the Soviet Union

Ultra-right wing groups are seeking to ''destabilise the activities of state organs and increase the public's distrust,'' the report said, calling their aims a ''national revolution and the establishment of a neo-Nazi regime in Russia.''

Attacks motivated by racism rose sharply after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

About 300 people were killed in such attacks between 2004 and 2008, according to the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, an NGO that collates crime statistics.

A survey published in December last year by independent pollster Levada found that 54 percent of Russians support the nationalist slogan ''Russia for Russians''.

President Dmitry Medvedev said soon after the survey's publication that ''severe'' punishments were necessary to curb growing xenophobia in the country.