As nationalist groups prepare to stage street rallies nationwide on Nov. 4 to celebrate Russia's National Unity Day, the leader of the advocacy group Federation of Migrants has advised non-Russian residents to exercise caution on the public holiday.
"We recommend that [non-Russians] take care on this day, that they stay away from crowded places, be careful at train stations, on the metro, and on intercity trains and buses," Muhammed Amin, president of the Federation of Migrants, said in quotes carried by the Interfax news agency.
Moscow City Hall has approved requests to hold two nationalist marches in the city on Nov. 4, gatherings that have traditionally trumpeted such slogans as "Russia for Russians."
One of the marches will take place in Moscow's southeastern neighborhoods of Lyublino and Marino, which are home to large numbers of Central Asian migrant workers. A maximum of 10,000 people are permitted to take part in the march, Interfax reported.
The second street gathering, set to host a maximum of 5,000 participants, will take place in the northwestern neighborhood of Shchukino.
Similar nationalist marches will be held in other large cities across the country, including in St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk.
According to Moscow police estimates, some 8,000 people participated in last year's nationalist march on Unity Day in the capital, 30 of whom were detained for covering their faces and chanting Nazi slogans, state news agency RIA Novosti reported at the time.
National Unity Day, which has been a public holiday since 2005, commemorates Russia's defeat of Polish invaders in 1612.
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