Violence and hatred in Russia's new skinhead playground

[gottaB]

Skinheads may be a British invention but when it comes to sheer numbers, levels of violence and hatred of foreigners a damning new report suggests Russia has become the bovver boys' blood-soaked new playground. It may be a country that vilifies fascism more than any other and arguably had to make the most appalling sacrifices to defeat Nazi Germany 60 years ago but this is where skinhead culture has taken hold like nowhere else.

Driven by crushing poverty, a lingering sense of humiliation after the collapse of the Soviet Union and outrage over Chechen separatist terror attacks, Russia's skinheads are becoming increasingly organised, increasingly violent and increasingly numerous.

A report claims Russia's youth is embracing the very ideology their grandparents fought against so implacably to the point where Russian skinheads, or britogolovy, now account for almost half the world's "skins". Adhering to a unique blend of neo-Nazi ideology and rabid Russian nationalism, Russian skinheads are among the most violent, and have staged a wave of savage attacks on non-Russians and children as young as five in the past year, leaving many of their bleeding victims to die slowly.

Forty-four people were killed in racially motivated murders last year, more than double the previous year, human rights activists say, and in many cases the perpetrators were young, white, bomber jacket-clad skinheads shouting neo-Nazi or nationalist slogans. They rarely shoot their victims, preferring to stab them repeatedly or beat them to death with chains or knuckle-dusters. And the odds are always stacked in their favour because they hunt in packs of at least three and pick the most vulnerable targets. Their ranks seem only to swell, from about a dozen in the early 1990s to up to 60,000 today.

Violence and hatred in Russia's new skinhead playground....

Alternative link: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/features/story.jsp?story=604338

[pocket]

1. "Skinhead Culture"

Skinhead culture is not about racism, but parts of it were coopted by nazi boneheads. Traditional Skinheads are just into ska, scooters, and beer more than anything.

[gottaB]

2. "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" only goes so far in my experience

After a particularly brutal murder in my neck of the woods, I realized that fighting a turf war with the Nazis over the meaning of "skinhead culture" was less important to me than fighting the Nazis over what it means to be civilized.

[vicman]

3. Ugh...

My experience of "skinhead culture" is fraught with memories of senseless violence and endless stupidity. Any woman daring to venture into a mosh pit getting her clothes torn off. Bouncers at punk shows hired from the local college football team and trained to look for "headhunters" just out to stomp and hurt moshers smaller than them. These kids didn't give a shit about the music, ska, punk, whatever. The music was just an excuse to engage in a bit of the old "ultraviolence." Never liked 'em... they were and are not needed... by anyone.

[pocket]

4. True, you don't have to be racist to be a dumbass.

True, you don't have to be racist to be a dumbass.