Foreigners warned not to leave dorms

A leading Moscow university ordered foreign students to stay in their dormitories for three days because of fears of ethnic violence before and after Adolf Hitler's birthday today.

Hundreds of foreigners at Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy were told to stock up on food and warned they would not be let out of the dormitories through Saturday.

At least 22 people have been killed and more than 130 injured in apparent hate crimes in Russia this year, said the SOVA center, which monitors xenophobia. Last year, 53 people were slain and 460 injured, it said.

In the past on Hitler's birthday, skinheads have targeted dark-skinned foreigners and others who appear non-Slavic.