Native of Armenia denies accusations of involvement in mass brawl in Moscow

Fuad Abbasov, the head of the Centre for Information Initiatives, has called a Russian citizen of Armenian origin to be the instigator of a mass brawl with shooting in Moscow, and revealed his passport data. However, the owner of this passport has declared himself not involved in the incident.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a brawl with shooting at the "Neolit" Cafe in Moscow broke out at night on February 15. According to eyewitnesses, some 50-100 people, natives of Chechnya and Azerbaijan, took part in it. According to sources, the conflict was preceded by mutual insults in social networks. The brawl was provoked by "third forces", said Polad Bulbul ogly, the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia.

Mr Abbasov said that the passport holder looks like the person, whom Chechens were looking for to punish for beating up their compatriot. He said that his intent was to show "neither Azerbaijanis, nor Chechens were to blame for inciting the interethnic hatred."

The young man, whose passport was posted by Abbasov, has denied information about his involvement in the conflict. Musheg Sahakyan, a co-chairman of the Union of Russian Armenians, posted the young man's video message in his Facebook.