Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty
Russian security forces hit the streets of St. Petersburg on New Year’s Eve with the goal of hunting down migrants, rounding up as many of them as possible, and sending them off to fill the ranks of Moscow’s military in Ukraine.
That’s according to new reporting by Novaya Gazeta Europe, which cited an unnamed source in law enforcement who said he’d been briefed on the plan, which, according to him, had been in the works for months.
Police and members of the National Guard knew exactly who they were looking for: Central Asian migrants. The topic had reportedly come up at a meeting back in August attended by representatives of the Federal Security Service and Russian Defense Ministry.