2:22pm UK, Monday December 15, 2008

Seven members of a Russian skinhead gang have been jailed for between six and 20 years for a series of racist murders.

Members of the gang appear for sentencing in court

Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky, seen as the ringleaders of the group, were given 10-year sentences.

They were handed the maximum term the judge could give as they were minors at the time of the crime.

One member of the gang, Roman Kuzin, was jailed for 20 years, while four others were given jail sentences of between six and 12 years.

The men appeared in court inside a glass-walled box to hear their sentences read out.

The group was deliberately set up to target migrants from the former Soviet republics in the Caucasus and Asia, prosecutors said.

They were convicted of 20 murders carried out between August 2006 and October 2007 in the Moscow area.

The group, who posted video of the crimes on the internet, were also found guilty of 12 attempted murders.

During their trial, Ryno and Skachevsky admitted their crimes and claimed they were determined to “cleanse Russian blood”.

Ryno told investigators: “From my school years I have hated people from the Caucasus who come to Moscow, form ties and start to oppress Russians.”

Two other people had previously been acquitted in the case.