Watch Your Mother Tongue

A group of international university students in Moscow is being investigated for terrorism for shouting slogans in Azerbaijani and carrying the country's flag. The investigation comes amids=t a rise in xenophobia and racism across Russia since the Crocus City Hall shooting.

On the morning of November 16, a video circulated of Azerbaijani students shouting inside a university staircase. Some of them were wearing the country's flag on their backs. In the recording, the students can be heard saying the country's name and another phrase in Azerbaijani.

The ultra-right-wing Telegram channel that shared the video, "Mnogonatsional," falsely claimed that the students were chanting "Cut the Russians." After better-quality versions surfaced, "Mnogonatsional" changed its tune. The channel later said that the students were chanting "Long live Azerbaijan" and were not inciting violence, while still using racist language against the students. The Investigative Committee of Moscow is investigating the veracity of the video and assessing whether they were shouting "illegal slogans."

It remains unclear whether the events occurred at the University of Finance and Law of Moscow or the Finance University of the Russian Government. However, the students were holding the flag of the former institution. The University of Finance and Law of Moscow denied the events took place inside its premises. Yet, in a statement, the academic institution's representatives called the students "provocateurs" and added that their authorities were collaborating with the police in their investigation.

The University of Finance and Law said that while it embraced "a multicultural, multiracial, multiethnic, and inclusive regimen of education and employment," it would expel the chant leaders. 

In this latest wave of racism and xenophobia, Russia has seen record deportations of migrants, largely from Central Asian countries like Azerbaijan.