MOSCOW?Outdoor markets and kiosks across Russia’s capital run by ethnic minorities were closed, and thousands of police ringed a Moscow soccer stadium Sunday to thwart possible racially motivated violence.

Police nationwide have been on alert all weekend amid fears of skinhead attacks around Hitler’s birthday Saturday, and amid heightened activity by Russia’s small ultranationalist minority. The police alert was to last through Monday.

An Afghan interpreter was beaten to death by skinheads last week, and several embassies in Moscow?including that of the United States?have received threats of violence recently. The U.N. refugee agency has reported increased numbers of racist attacks in Russia in recent months, and appealed for police action.

No neo-Nazi violence was reported Sunday, though three attackers beat a British diplomat David Arkley on Moscow’s central Arbat street overnight.