New Fatal Attacks on Russian Anti-fascists

Last week was marked by a new wave of neo-Nazi violence against young antifascists, with one murder in Irkutsk and one in Moscow.

On October 8, 2008, in Irkutsk, 16-year-old Olga Rukosyla was killed by three young men in Nazi-skinhead gear. According to eyewitnesses, they approached the young girl, asked her a question and yanked her arm. Olga gave an angry answer, and then the attackers knocked her down and began kicking her. Passers-by called an ambulance, which took Olga to the hospital where she died the same night.

Olga Rukosyla didn't belong to any particular political group, but she was dressed as a punk and her boots were laced with red shoelaces, a symbol of the antifa subculture.

The police have identified several primary murder suspects. Two of them Irkutsk neo-Nazis nicknamed :Boomer; and :Def;, who have already been accused of the 2007 attack at an eco-camp in Angarsk, which resulted in the death of Ilya Borodaenko.

On the morning of October 10, 2008, in Moscow, 27-year-old Fyodor Filatov (also known as Fedyaj) was stabbed by a group of 4 people as he was leaving his home. He was taken to the hospital, where he died of multiple wounds.

Fedyaj was one of the founders of the Moscow Trojan Skinhead group of apolitical antiracist skinheads. Neo-Nazi websites have repeatedly published his picture. It is widely believed by his friends and the anti-fascist community, that he was targeted by neo-Nazis.

Police have begun investigating the murder (article 105 of the Criminal Code).

A neo-Nazi group published a message on on a :NS-WP; website (National Socialism - White Power), taking responsibility for the murder of Fedyaj.

On November 27, 2008, one of the Irkutsk news-papers published the results of an investigation which showed that the high profile murder of 16 year-old Olga Rukosyla didn't take place. Moreover, there was no such a girl with such a name.