Mass Brawl Breaks Out Between Over 50 People Outside Subway Station

Dozens of people fought in a mass brawl outside a subway station in Moscow, apparently sparked by a stabbing, according to local reports.

Russian media outlets reported that the fight, which started outside the Kuzminki metro station in the south-east of the Russian capital at around 7 p.m. on Monday evening, quickly escalated.

REN TV reported that the violence started on Zelenodolskaya Street after two people had been stabbed and their colleagues then looked to take revenge.

However, there were conflicting accounts of the numbers involved, with REN TV, which showed footage of the fracas, initially saying that there were around 180 people.

Meanwhile, state news agencies Interfax and Tass put the numbers at between 50 and 100.

Tass said that police and officers from the National Guard arrived to break up the fight, while a Ministry of Internal Affairs source told Interfax there had been around 20 arrests "of the most active participants" who had come from "Central Asian countries."

News outlets reported that those involved in the fight were believed to be from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Social media sites also reported that there were people from Tajikistan involved in the fight.

These former Soviet republics in Central Asia are the homelands of migrants who frequently come to the Russian capital for better working opportunities.

Interfax said a number of people were treated for injuries on the spot which were mainly stab wounds, cuts and bruises, while three people were hospitalized. No fatalities were reported.

A statement to Interfax from the Moscow department of the interior ministry said police officers "took measures to prevent violations of public order," and that a number of citizens were brought to district police departments for questioning.

A law enforcement source told Tass that some of those involved in the fight ran out onto the road and disrupted cars and pedestrians. "The cause of the conflict is being established," the source said.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian interior ministry for further comment.

On July 5, police in Moscow arrested 19 people, after a brawl broke out among football fans in the Vostochnoye Degunino area of the city, according to Lenta.ru.

Footage shared on the channel showed the scuffles in which people were seen running between high-rise buildings, and shots being heard.

Meanwhile, on April 25, around 150 fans of the rivals football teams in the Russian capital, Spartak Moscow and CSKA, were involved in a mass brawl in Orekhovo-Zuevsky in the southeast of the city, Lenta.ru reported.