In the wake of recent racially motivated attacks, such as the brutal stabbing of an Amerinian in the middle of the day in Moscow, it is well timed that a recent report by Amnesty International has stated that Russian racism is 'out of control'.

The report into violent racism shows that at least 28 people were killed and 366 were assaulted in 2005. This year there have already been a number of high-profile cases, including the death of a Senegalese student.

Amnesty condemns discrimination by the authorities and a failure to properly record or investigate racist crimes.The Amnesty report, entitled "Russian Federation: Violent racism out of control", includes examples of police and prosecutors routinely classifying murders and serious assaults by skinhead extremists as lesser crimes of "hooliganism".