Soon after the May 24 brawl, widely viewed as an ethnically-fueled conflict between Russians and Chechens, a street fight broke out in the city, in which two Russians were killed.
The commission investigating the incidents said in its report published Thursday: "As a result of work conducted by the commission and meetings with representatives of the executive authorities and law enforcement bodies, and of the main diaspora groups, the commission on problems in the North Caucasus concluded that the reason for the events that caused a public stir, following rumors of conflicts allegedly sparked by inter-race hate, was simply everyday clashes between young local groups, which took place on May 23."
The document also said Stavropol Mayor Dmitry Kuzmin had declined to meet with the commission members, citing his full schedule.
During the second fight, which broke out on the street near the State Medical Academy in Stavropol on June 3, two young Russians were stabbed to death. Two people have been arrested in connection with the earlier brawl, in late May.
On June 5 several hundred people who believed the incident to be an inter-ethnic killing staged an unsanctioned protest.
Tensions between Russians and Chechens also flared up in the northern Russian town of Kondopoga, in the Republic of Karelia, in September last year after two local Russian residents were killed and nine others injured in a restaurant brawl involving Chechens.
