Russia says more than 80 people detained for questioning after Moscow street fight

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia’s interior ministry said on Sunday that more than 80 people had been taken to police stations for questioning after a major street fight between migrants in a residential area of Moscow and that all foreigners involved would be deported.

Russian media published videos of people fighting on the street with clubs and spades and smashing windows amid parked cars near the Prokshino residential complex, though it was not immediately clear what the fight was about.

Russia’s interior ministry said 19 people had been arrested for hooliganism, adding that those migrants with Russian citizenship may have their citizenship revoked. Other foreigners involved would be deported, the ministry said.

“Those foreign citizens involved who are not imprisoned, will be deported and banned from re-entry,” said Irina Volk, a spokeswoman for the interior ministry.

Migration, especially from the former Soviet republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus, has become a major domestic political issue in Russia.

Migration has been restricted since a deadly attack at a Moscow concert hall in 2024 which Russian authorities said was carried out by Tajiks.

About 6.3 million migrants arrived in Russia in 2024, according to interior ministry figures, with about half of the total from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

While the domestic Russian economy is reliant on cheap labour from those republics, especially in the construction and consumer industry, there has been a backlash from many Russian citizens against what they say is such a large influx of people with little knowledge of Russian customs or culture.

Russia has faced acute labour shortages across multiple sectors since the start of the war in Ukraine, as hundreds of thousands joined the military.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Ros Russell)