Explosion along rail line in southern Moscow

An improvised explosive device detonated on the morning of 4 November 2008 along a rail line in southern Moscow. The incident occurred at approximately 0420 local time (0120 UTC) between the Buryulevo-Tovarnaya and Bulatnikovo stations. Reports indicate that the blast had a force equal to 3.3 lb/1.5 kg of TNT and resulted in a crater measuring 6.5 ft/2 m wide and 2.3 ft/0.7 m deep. No one was injured, but the blast caused damage to the track, four sleeper cars and power lines. Train schedules were not affected. Three men have since been arrested for suspected involvement in the blast. It is not known if the blast was related to the observance of Unity Day in Russia, which prompted a number of far-right protests in Moscow and various other cities throughout the day. In Moscow, approximately 200 protesters associated with the Movement Against Illegal Immigration and other nationalist groups attempted to stage an unauthorized march to Red Square, but anti-riot police officers stopped and detained them at Novy Arbat. Clashes involving approximately 50 youths -- some ethnic Russian and some originating from the Caucasus region -- also broke out in a park in the nearby town of Solnechnogorsk, with 17 people being arrested. Nationalist demonstrations -- both sanctioned and unsanctioned -- also took place in cities such as St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk and Vladivostok.