St. Petersburg police detained two suspects in connection with two murders of minorities, according to a June 4, 2008 report by the local news web site Fontanka.ru. The two are accused of stabbing a citizen of Tajikistan on February 13; the victim died in the hospital. On March 11, the suspects allegedly stabbed a 16 year old Uzbek to death. The police solved the case after detaining one of the suspects (a 21 year old named Alekseev) in the wake of an April assault on a 22 year old resident of Petersburg. The suspect gave up his confederate, a 21 year old plumber. Both face murder charges, but so far prosecutors have chosen not to tack on hate crimes charges to the case, which is not surprising. Citing statistics from local law enforcement agencies, Fontanka reported that 16 probable hate crimes crimes have taken place already this year in the city, including nine murders. However, hate crimes charges were only applied in one of those cases, leading local officials to announce that the situation in the city, which has gained a reputation as unsafe for minorities, is improving.

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