Peru's Foreign Ministry send a formal protest with Russia over the racially motivated beating death of a Peruvian student

Peru's Foreign Ministry said yesterday that it had lodged a formal protest with Russia over the racially motivated beating death of a Peruvian student in the central Russian city of Voronezh.

"A criminal group of a racist and xenophobic character murdered Peruvian student Enrique Arturo Angeles Hurtado," the ministry said in statement faxed to The Associated Press.

A letter of "formal protest" was sent Wednesday morning to the Russian Embassy in Lima "requesting that the authorities of that country carry out an exhaustive, impartial, objective and speedy investigation to clearly identify the authors of this hate crime," the statement said.

Russian authorities said that Hurtado, and two friends another Peruvian and a Spaniard who also attended Voronezh State University were attacked Sunday by about 15 local youths at a sports complex in the center of the city, some 475 kilometers (300 miles) south of Moscow.

Over the past six years, at least seven foreigners have been killed in apparently racially motivated attacks in Voronezh, where many foreign students attend university.