Moscow police probe race attacks

Singer and culture minister Zaur Tutov was attacked on Saturday

A Russian TV producer says he was beaten up in a racist attack on the Moscow metro - the second suspected race crime within a few days.

Journalist Elkhan Mirzoyev, from Azerbaijan, said he was attacked on a train by a group of young men and a woman, who hit him with beer bottles.

Police are treating the crime as based on "ethnic, racial, religious hatred", according to news agency Itar-Tass.

They are also investigating an attack on a singer from southern Russia.

Zaur Tutov, a singer and culture minister for the republic of Kabardino-Balkaria was attacked in Moscow on Saturday by a group of up to 20 young men said to have been shouting racist slogans. He was treated for concussion and a fractured jaw.

Mr Mirzoyev, who appeared on NTV with a bandaged head on Monday, said a group had beaten him.

"One of them was a real skinhead with high boots, camouflage and a black jacket," he said. "He came up to me, sat and began to talk to me... Rather, he tried to explain why I should not live in Russia."

Ethnic groups in Russia have raised concerns about the rising number of apparently race-related attacks.