International Herald Tribune, France
Jan 21 2007

Prosecutors: Ethnic Armenian teenager killed in Moscow
The Associated PressPublished: January 21, 2007

MOSCOW: An ethnic Armenian teenager has been stabbed to death in
Moscow, prosecutors said Sunday, amid a spate of racially motivated
crimes and growing xenophobia in Russia.

The body of Artur Martirosian, 15, was found in central Moscow early
Friday with knife wounds, said Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for
city prosecutors.

A murder investigation has been opened, she said.

Russia has seen a marked rise in xenophobia and racism in recent
years, with a series of attacks on dark-skinned migrants, foreigners
and Jews. According to the Sova rights center, which monitors
xenophobia, last year alone 48 people were killed and another 429
injured in apparent hate crimes.

Rights groups say authorities do little or nothing to combat the
crimes.