BELGRADE, March 26. /TASS/. Serbia’s Interior Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic has pledged to find and punish those who attacked Russian football fans last night in Belgrade, the ministry’s press service said on Sunday.

"Our task is to find and severely punish the offenders. Serbia will not be a training ground for hooligans who think they can bully locals or foreigners in our streets. No one can event think he or she can break the Russian-Serbian friendship that is capable of standing any trial. Serbia wants this friendship to become ever closer," he said.

Stefanovic and Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar visited the injured Russian fans in hospital and vowoed the Serbian authorities will do their best to help them recover as soon as possible and swiftly investigate the incident.

A group of Russian and Serbian fans were marching with the flags of their clubs after a match between Moscow’s Spartak and Serbian football club Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) on Saturday, when they were attacked by fans of Belgrade’s Partizan club in central Belgrade. The conflict sparked off over a red-and-white scarf one of the fans was wearing. Three Russian fans were taken to hospital.

On Saturday, Spartak was defeated by Belgrade’s Crvena Zvezda 1-2.