The fire in a cafe in Petrozavodsk, capital of the republic of Karelia, occurred at about 4:00 a.m. Moscow time (1 a.m. GMT), the local emergencies authorities said. A canister with inflammable liquid was found nearby.
No casualties were reported. The blaze damaged the wall and a window frame outside the building.
The Emergency Situations Department said the ethnic origin of the cafe's owner is unknown. But a police source in Petrozavodsk said the cafe is run by a man from the former Soviet Central Asian republic of Uzbekistan.
Cafes and stores run by migrants from post-Soviet Caucasus states were set ablaze on a massive scale in the region following the murder of two Russians in a restaurant brawl in the town of Kondopoga in early September. The incident sparked racially motivated violence in the community, and a wave of nationalist protests elsewhere in the country.
