Russian police detain 49 people at nationalist knife fighting tournament

Security forces detained almost 50 people in Moscow over the weekend, including nationalist campaigner Dmitry Demushkin, in an anti-extremism operation at a full contact knife fighting tournament, Russian news agency Interfaxreported.

Demushkin heads a union of far right, nationalist organisations called 'Russkiye', a term used to describe ethnic Russians, and was last arrested in April along with other members on charges of hooliganism. Police seized knives, pistols and brass knuckles from the group. Russian radio station Echo of Moscow reported that the arrests had happened as they celebrated Adolf Hitler's birthday, which Demushkin denied.

Law enforcement officers entered the Olympic Gym on Shipilovskaya Street in the south of Moscow where the tournament was reportedly being held on Sunday and arrested 49 people, some of whom were participants while others were organisers.

Knife fighting is practiced as a legal sport in many places in Russia, notably in the armed forces. Demushkin has frequently been involved in organising knife fighting competitions with spectators, attributing the discipline to the indigenous Slavic warrior tribe - the Cossacks. Prior to yesterday's events, Demushkin posted a promotional video of "Cossack knife fighting" on his VKontakte social media account which includes footage of previous knife competitions he's organised, billing the discipline as "the strongman's sport".

According to the event page, yesterday's contest was divided into three weight categories for male participants, with a separate category for women. The fighting takes place with training knives and contestants are obliged to wear a helmet. Demushkin has posted several instructional videos on Cossack knife fighting online in the past and has been involved in tournaments organised in partnership with other groups who practice the sport.

The reason and exact details for yesterday's arrest are still unclear. After the incident Demushkin told Interfax that a group of people had been detained at the event and taken to a police station in Moscow's southern Zyablikovo district by the Federal Security Services (FSB) as part of an extremism investigation. However he added that they had only be taken there to be identified and some were released shortly after.

No public charge has been made against the detainees but OVD Info, a Russian anti-police brutality group, have reported that Demushkin is due to be questioned by the FSB again tomorrow.

While some other nationalist organisations such as the motorbike gang Night Wolves have enjoyed a more amicable relationship with the government, Demushkin's Russkiye have found themselves at odds with the authorities on several occasions.

Most recently earlier this month the group's Moscow branch leader had his home raided by police, and Demushkin has also previously had his home searched. "There is a purposeful drive to ban this movement," Demushkin told news site Lenta.ru at the time.