Damir Tahir ulı Zaynullin (, ; ~ - 1 July 2007), was a 23-year-old Saint-Petersburg-born ethnic

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

who was brutally murdered on July 1, 2007, by a gang of 17 people. Allegedly, the killers were Russian far-right skinheads. On his way to work, he was killed at 79 Stachek Prospect, near Avtovo station of

Saint Petersburg Metro The Saint Petersburg Metro () is a rapid transit system in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Construction began in early 1941, but was put on hold due to World War II and the subsequent Siege of Leningrad, during which the constructed stations were used a ...

; not far from police precinct number 31. Security cameras seem to indicate that 17 attackers were involved, one of them a young woman. The attackers first ripped open Zaynullin's belly to prevent him from running away, then beat him severely, and finally used a broken glass bottle to cut his arteries, causing him to bleed to death. Zaynullin was buried in the Southern Cemetery of Saint Petersburg, on 7 July 2007. Eight suspects had been arrested, but they were all released without charges. One suspect, Mariya Khapilina, gave herself up on 13 July 2007. Khapilina's father says that like the victim, she is of Tatar ethnicity. This deliberate assassination of a young man, who had graduated from the Agricultural University only a day before he was killed, was not even covered by the mainstream media in Saint Petersburg. However, it took resonance in the Tatar and

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

media, and is often seen as a

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

attack. Many anti-fascist and Tatar groups, including the

All-Tatar Public Center The All-Tatar Public Center (ATPC) was a Tatar nationalist organization founded on 7 July 1988 to promote Tatarstan sovereignty and self-determination. The ATPC headquarters were in Kazan, Tatarstan. On 10 June 2022 the organization was labeled a ...

, state that Zaynullin was killed as a result of an ultra-nationalist attack.

Footnotes

External links

Blog devoted to Damir Zaynullin
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An article about Damir Zaynullin in St.Petersburg Times

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaynullin, Damir People from Saint Petersburg People murdered in Russia Russian murder victims Tatar people of Russia 1980s births 2007 deaths