The victims, from the Central Asian republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, were attacked with metal bars.

Five of the suspects are juveniles.

Prosecutors say the attacks, which took place in the city of Volgograd last October, had no motive.

The three men died without regaining consciousness.

The trial is being held behind closed doors.

Russia has up to 15,000 skinheads, says the Interior Ministry, up to 5,000 of them in Moscow.

Neo-Nazi groups in Russia have frequently targeted people from Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as immigrants from Africa and East Asia.

Moscow markets, where many traders are non-Russians, have been the target of previous attacks.

In 2001, three people died and others were injured as skinheads rampaged through the markets. Five people were later convicted of carrying out the racist attack.

There has been an increase in racist attacks since Russian troops went back into the Caucasus republic of Chechnya in 1999, highlighting the danger posed by extremists and neo-Nazi groups, correspondents say.

People of Caucasian origin often claim they are not protected by the authorities.

It is common to see darker-skinned people being stopped by the police in Moscow and having their documents checked, correspondents say.