Since the end of 1980s, with the major influx of Caucasus nationalities into Russian cities and towns, the nationalist feelings and protests were exhibited by both Russians and the former USSR republics' citizens. The influx of people from Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the last few years only aggravated the problem. Working against such backdrop, the yellow press never ceases the opportunity to attract people's attention with headlines that make an accent on the national background of the conflicting parties.

      To tackle this, several State Duma deputies have come forward with a draft law that effectively prohibits the mass-media to attract excessive attention to the nationalities of people involved in a conflict. The headlines like "Two Chechens Attacked a Russian", "An Armenian attacked a Russian" etc. serve to breed wrong stereotypes and encourage xenophobia in the Russian society, one deputy said.

      It is yet unclear how this law is going to be enforced; there is also a feeling that it was proposed by the deputies who personally belong to ethnic minorities, including the Caucasian nationalities.