Russian communist politician on mass riot in Moscow

Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of the communist faction in the State Duma /the lower chamber of the Russian parliament/, believes that the recent mass riot in Moscow was an action aimed at forcing the Duma to adopt a draft law on political extremism.

Zyuganov made this statement on Monday when commenting on a devastating disorder, which followed the June 9th Russia-Japan football match.

According to him, "that was a well-planned provocation, which is virtually a whole chain of actions, which began from skinheads threatening to start a riot at demonstrations on May 1st and 9th." The Communist leader added that back then, secret services managed to prevent mass disorder, but this Sunday "the result was acts of vandalism in public places, which should be guarded by presidential security service." According to Zyuganov, the Russian government should now draw relevant conclusions and "do all possible to make youth interested in science, culture and sports." Zyuganov particularly stressed that the issue of finding the riot's initiators was of utmost importance.

In conclusion, Zyuganov held out some hope that Russian football players would play better because "a nation is treated in a different way if its flag and hymn are raised and played at international stadiums."