Bodies Of Murdered Kyrgyz To Be Sent Home From Moscow

MOSCOW -- The bodies of two ethnic Kyrgyz men killed in Moscow earlier this month will be transferred to Kyrgyzstan, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.

Kyrgyz Ambassador to Russia Raimkul Attokurov told RFE/RL that it is unclear if the young men were killed by skinheads.

Moscow police say Zhanybek Safarov was stabbed to death on October 24 and Tynchtykbek Tashpolotov was found shot dead two weeks earlier. Both men had Russian passports on them. Attokurov said an investigation is ongoing.

There are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz living and working in Russia, many of whom have received Russian citizenship. Scores of immigrant workers from Central Asia have been killed in Russia this year, the majority of them Tajiks.