Tommy Robinson met with Elon Musk's father in Russia and posted a video of their meeting in a Moscow hotel.

Their get-together on Monday came just hours before a stabbing in Belfast sparked riots, with Robinson escalating the tension online by encouraging the unrest.

Robinson posted a video of himself and Errol Musk, Elon's father, in which he says: 'We are going to go and cause some trouble.'

Robinson was in St Petersburg attending an annual Kremlin-backed economic forum dubbed 'Russia's Davos'.

Asked by the Guardian why he had travelled to Moscow, Robinson said: 'I've come to see how this country got itself so well on to the straight and narrow and see the beauty of a civilised society here.'

He added: 'Russia is not the enemy of Britain. That narrative has long since died a natural death. There are those who benefit from pushing Russia as an enemy but everyone laughs at those people now.'

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has long been a supporter of Robinson, with both men calling for people to take to the streets in response to the knife attack in Belfast.

The horrific stabbing attack on Monday night saw Sudanese migrant Hadi Alodid allegedly inflicting knife wounds to a man's face, neck and back in a residential street.

Harrowing footage captured at around 10.30pm on Monday evening appeared to show the alleged attacker violently stabbing a man in the street.

The video shows a man standing astride the bloodied victim - later identified as Stephen Ogilvie - holding a knife to his throat and his fist in the air.

The suspect was last night charged with attempted murder and appeared in court today via video link where he was remanded in custody for four weeks.

Violent protests broke out in Belfast last night as hundreds of masked protesters torched homes and vehicles following Alodid's arrest.

Robinson shared a list of places where protests were said to be taking place at 7pm on Tuesday, saying: 'The whole of the United Kingdom is hitting the streets tonight at 7pm following yet another invader attack on our people. '

Robinson also shared graphics that included the instruction: 'All businesses to close at 5.30pm tonight. No exceptions.' 

One statement he reposted urged protesters to leave phones at home.

'Technology and recording devices… don't help anyone, this is saving our country not for the powers to use it against patriots and shaft us,' the account claimed.

Tesla mogul Elon Musk also took to social media to encourage people to protest. 

'Only by protesting REPEATEDLY and LOUDLY will there be any change,' he wrote on X.

Houses, cars, a bus and a supermarket were set alight as parts of Belfast descended into chaos last night, with some suggestions that non-white residents were deliberately targeted by some of the fires. 

Northern Ireland's First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, condemned the 'outright thuggery', saying that 'groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice'. A two-month-old baby was among those rescued.

Sir Keir Starmer has said the disorder in Belfast was 'shocking and completely unacceptable', adding that he would 'not tolerate' violence against people 'because of their background'.

Protesters gathered on the streets across Belfast long before dark last night following rallying cries on social media, ignoring police pleas for calm.

Just before 8pm, masked men dressed in black pushed burning bins up against a bus, setting it ablaze and sending thick smoke into the sky. Houses and cars were also later set alight alongside a Middle Eastern supermarket.

Footage of the chaos shows infants being carried out of neighbouring houses as flames engulf the properties.

In the Lower Newtownards Road area, around 100 masked men made their way down the street kicking in doors and smashing windows, saying they were 'getting the foreigners out', the BBC reported.

It was also reported that groups of locals had set up checkpoints and were checking passing cars for foreign nationals.

Anti-immigrant protests also took place in several other cities around the UK on Tuesday night, including London, Glasgow, and Southampton. 

Labour chairman Anna Turley said Musk and his platform had played a role in driving the violent unrest.

Northern Ireland Justice Minister Naomi Long said 'bad-faith' actors stoking racial tensions on social media should 'step away from their keyboards', adding: 'If you weren't interested in Northern Ireland on Sunday, you don't need to show interest in Northern Ireland today.'

Speaking on BBC Breakfast today, Long said: 'Let us get on with the job of trying to bring calm to our streets, of trying to rebuild our community, of reassuring both people who live in North Belfast and across Belfast.'

She added: 'We recognise in Northern Ireland that immigration is a vexed issue, and there is a conversation that we can have rationally and logically about that, but there are others who weaponize it to stir up racial tensions, to stir up division in communities.'