Watchdog

A Moscow-based think tank that monitors xenophobia and extremism says 13 people were killed and 61 injured in ethnically motivated attacks in Russia in the first six months of 2014.

According to the latest report presented by the Sova Center for Information and Analysis on July 9, the deadliest attacks in the last six months occurred in Moscow, where five people were killed and 13 injured by suspected ultranationalists.

Two people were killed and seven injured in Russia's second-largest city, St. Petersburg.

The report did not include ethnically or racially motivated attacks in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region or in Crimea, the Ukrainian region that was annexed by Moscow in March.

The main victims of the attacks were migrant workers from Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as citizens from African states and Japan.

With reporting by Interfax

The family of a Turkmen conscript who died while in service are alleging that he was murdered in a hazing incident.

The body of Private Ihtiyar Hydyrov was handed over to his family in April.

In an interview with RFE/RL on July 7, they said his body bore traces of beating and torture.

Turkmen officials said Hydyrov's death was caused by excessive alcohol consumption.

Hydyrov's family protested the autopsy results and filed a lawsuit, demanding an independent examination.

A court in Ashgabat ruled last month that no additional autopsy is needed.

Hydyrov's relatives say he would call them on a regular basis and ask them to send money "to avoid problems."

They say he prohibited his parents from visiting him, saying it would make matters worse.

Hazing remains a problem in the armed forces of the majority of post-Soviet countries.