Anti-Estonian rhetoric and activities; attacks on minorities; subcultural and left-wing youth and nazi groups taking part in May Day and Victory Day - these events form the dark political tapestry woven by the extreme right-wing in the first ten days of May.

On 1 May, the first legal nazi march since November 2005 took place in Moscow. More than 300 members of such organisations as the DPNI (Movement Against Illegal Immigration), the NDPR (People's State Party of Russia), the NBF (National Bolshevik Front), Russian Order, the SS (Slavic Union) and the others took part.

The march took place in Moscow district Ostankino and ended with a rally near the TV tower. Slogans at the march and speeches made at the rally were full of nazi rhetoric and obscenities. This did not, however, prompt any intervention from the police on hand. Pictures from the march are available here.

In St. Petersburg, on 1 May, about 150 nationalists, mostly from the DPNI and SS joined the Communist Party's march with such slogans as :No to immigration, yes to deportation!; and :Kuryanovich is our president; (Kuryanovich is a notoriously nationalist MP). Anti-fascist activists attempted to block the path of the nazis with a banner bearing the slogan :Death to fascism!; There were no clashes during the march itself, but attacks on anarchists and anti-fascists were reported during the day.

Another group of anti-fascists managed to hang a big banner with a slogan :Towards new victories! Fascism has many faces; on the wall of one of St Petersburg's biggest shopping centres. The banner hung there for several minutes while Second World War veterans marched past but was then removed by police. Some of the anti-fascists were detained by police, but were released after a couple of hours.

St. Petersburg Police department said that there were no hate crimes reported in the city on the day but besides attacks on anti-fascists, at least one attack, by ten nazi skinheads on a group of Chinese people, has been noted.

On 9 May in Moscow, another nationalist march took place, this time in the city centre, organised by Sergei Baburin, also an organiser of last November's so-called Russian March. Among the participants there were MPs Kuryanovich and Alksnis, activists of RONS (Russian All-nation Union), the Union of Orthodox Gonfaloniers, the Union of Russian People, the DPNI and the SS. Marchers shouted :Kondopoga - is a heroic town;, :Russian order for Russia; and some antisemitic slogans but, again, the police did not intervene.