Enlarge AP photo Protesters raise their arms outside the Kievsky train station in Moscow on Wednesday. Thousands of riot police deployed around central Moscow Wednesday to prevent possible ethnic clashes after the weekend rioting by racist hooligans fueled rumors that minorities could try to retaliate. Scuffles erupted outside Kievsky train station. MOSCOW (AP)  Fearing more clashes between racist hooligans and ethnic minorities, Russian police detained 1,000 people in a standoff near a Moscow train station Wednesday, taking a strong stance against far right extremists after weekend rioting left dozens injured. Hundreds of riot police outside the Kievsky station hauled mostly young men and teenagers shouting racist slogans into police vans. Some were lined up against buses and searched by police. Officers confiscated an arsenal of weapons, including knives and metal bars, police spokesman Viktor Biryukov said. Resentment has been rising among Slavic Russians over the growing presence in Moscow and elsewhere of people from the southern Caucasus region, the home of numerous ethnic groups, most of them Muslim. People from other parts of the former Soviet Union, including Central Asia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, also face ethnic discrimination and are frequent victims of hate crimes. The train station is popular with street merchants from the Caucasus. The majority of those detained were Slavic Russians shouting racist slogans and calling for violence, although some ethnic minorities from the Caucasus were also taken into custody. Police declined immediate comment on when they could be released or whether they face any charges. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no injuries reported. "Police will severely punish any provocations and violence," he said in televised remarks. Authorities sought to prevent rioting that occurred outside the Kremlin on Saturday, when mainly soccer fans chanted "Russia for Russians!" during clashes that left dozens injured. Many soccer fans are linked with neo-Nazis and other radical racist groups that mushroomed in Russia after the 1991 Soviet collapse. The violence over the weekend had raised new doubts about the government's ability to control the rising tide of xenophobia, which poses a serious threat to Russia's existence as a multiethnic state. It also embarrassed the Kremlin just days after FIFA awarded the 2018 World Cup to Russia and raised questions about Russia's ability to safely hold international sporting events, including the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. The weekend rally began as a protest against the killing of a member of the Spartak Moscow soccer team's fan club, who was shot with rubber bullets during clashes with Caucasus natives at a bus stop earlier this month. Spartak fans claimed corrupt policemen detained one suspected killer following the fight, but released others because they had powerful backers in the Caucasus. Moscow police chief Vladimir Kolokoltsev acknowledged Monday that investigators had made a mistake and said three more suspects have been arrested. Russian media have been abuzz with rumors that some people from the Caucasus could try to take revenge for Saturday's riots, even as community leaders described the allegations as a provocation and called for calm. Anxieties about what would happen Wednesday were palpable hours before protesters starting gathering. A shopping mall just outside the train station shut down hours ahead of schedule, and most stands at a nearby flower market, operated mostly by people from the Caucasus, were closed. Authorities towed cars in anticipation of possible clashes and helmeted police were on standby on a square and around the mall early in the morning. A video where anti-Caucasus slogans were interlaced with footage of ethnic minorities from southern Russia beating up policemen and Slavic men was posted on the website of the Spartak fan club Wednesday. "They don't respect our traditions," the slogans said in reference to the Caucasus natives. "Now is the time to show them who's in charge. They went too far." Police also rounded up around 60 protesters in St. Petersburg, where radical groups also planned a gathering Wednesday. Riot police prevented clashes in Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don, southern Russian cities with large non-Slavic populations where ethnic clashes have been frequent in recent years, officials said. Dozens of mostly young men have been detained in several cities in central Russia and Siberia, Russian news agencies reported. President Dmitry Medvedev urged police Monday not to hesitate to use force to put down riots, saying that leaving hate crimes unpunished would jeopardize stability. Hate attacks in Russia peaked in 2008, when 115 people were killed and nearly 500 wounded, according to Sova, an independent watchdog. Some Russia experts noted links between nationalist groups and some part of officialdom when hard-liners within the government may be supporting the nationalists to justify tight Kremlin controls and fend off efforts to open up Russia's political system. Opposition groups claim that pro-Kremlin youth organizations have hired soccer fans and racists to carry out attacks on Kremlin critics. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. 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