Union of Councils for Soviet Jews: Reaction to Neo-Nazi Violence in Rostov Ranges From Disgust to Approval

Media reports that six neo-Nazis in Rostov were arrested as they prepared to firebomb a foreign student dormitory has led to a variety of reactions from local residents. The November 29, 2005 local edition of the national daily “Komsomolskaya Pravda” lists the reactions of several Rostov residents. The first is a pensioner named Aleksandr Shabaev, who justifies violence against foreign students by asserting that: “Foreign students get a lot bigger stipends than ours, right? Therefore they are in an advantageous position when it comes to Russian women. Tell me, how can our students see this calmly? That's how the youths express their opinion against the situation in which Russia is in.” Nikolai Dryukin, a retired military officer, sees the situation from the opposite extreme, claming that he threatened to kill a young relative when he found out that he had joined a skinhead gang. He also called for all skinheads to be expelled from universities (all the neo-Nazis arrested in connection with the attempted firebombing study at local colleges).