Criminal Case Opened After Attack on Uzbek Migrants in Vladivostok

A criminal case has been launched in Vladivostok after a group of teenagers assaulted migrants, using objects as weapons, the Primorye Investigative Committee reports. The case was opened under Article 213, Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code on hooliganism.

Footage of the incident appeared online on September 13, showing local minors beating migrants while the recording was accompanied by laughter and encouragement. Investigators identified the attackers as three 15-year-olds, all previously known to police. One of them had already been charged over the assault of a security guard with a baseball bat in a Vladivostok shopping centre in November 2024.

The investigation found that on September 10, the teenagers, under the influence of alcohol, vandalised a parked car and sprayed an aerosol inside, attacked a migrant near a lorry, and later beat another man in a grocery shop in front of customers. They then assaulted a taxi driver and his passenger, using stones, sticks and other makeshift weapons. Despite their identities being confirmed, only one has been detained so far.

The incident has caused not only outrage in local media but also a diplomatic row after it was revealed the victims were citizens of Uzbekistan. Tashkent appealed to the Russian authorities, urging immediate action.

Rasul Kusherbayev, adviser to the Uzbek minister of ecology and former MP, said the migrants had sought help from the consulate but received none. He added that an official complaint had been filed with Vladivostok police on their behalf, while diplomatic notes were sent to Russia’s Foreign Ministry office in Vladivostok and the Primorye prosecutor’s office, calling for measures to be taken.