(CNN) -- A man suspected of killing a migrant from Kyrgyzstan and leading recent riots that drew thousands in Moscow has been arrested, state media reported.
Ilya Kubrakov and three other rioters were arrested on Friday, a Moscow court announced, according to the Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti. Kubrakov could face life in prison for the stabbing death of the Kyrgyz migrant in southern Moscow, whose body was found on Sunday, RIA Novosti said.
On December 11, about 5,000 nationalists and "football hooligans" clashed with Moscow police as an unsanctioned nationalist-tinged mass memorial for a fellow supporter turned violent, according to state media.
The fans were protesting alleged police negligence over the death of Yegor Sviridov, 28, who was killed in a fight with migrants from Russia's North Caucasus region, according to RIA Novosti.
The confrontations took place in Manezh Square, outside the Kremlin, and led to the arrests of 65 Spartak Moscow fans for "disobedience," Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said last weekend, according to the official Russian news agency Itar-Tass.
The head of the Spartak Moscow fan club has told RIA Novosti that the showdown had nothing to do with sports but instead was rooted in problems in Russian society.
More disturbances followed on Wednesday, when ethnic Russians and internal migrants met for a confrontation in Moscow, and other riots have also taken place in St. Petersburg and other Russian cities, RIA Novosti said.
According to the news agency, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev blamed the rash of race-hate violence on investigators who released suspects in Sviridov's death. Medvedev called on authorities to take measures to punish those responsible for the crime, RIA Novosti said. CNN
