"Little green football fans" in France

[OUTLAW 09]

Moderator adds

Few doubt the violence unleashed by Russian "fans" in France in the last few days, during the Euro 2016, with the prospect of more. Now whether as some suggest it is those "little green men" pursuing 'hybrid warfare' is a moot point.

This thread will continue in a moment a number of posts that appear, thanks to Outlaw09 in a Ukraine thread (ends).

If you do not think for a moment that sports is not part and parcel of the Russian non linear warfare used to support their political war against the West especially the US....think again....

Russian propaganda is justifying / even PROUD of violence of Russian fans at the #EURO2016.
https://life.ru/t/%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%82/418906/drama_v_marsielskom_portu_ili_chto_znachit_razbudi t_russkogho_miedviedia …

LIFE title page...."Drama in Marseille port...what it means to awaken Russian Bear!"

There are around 10.000 reasons why #Russia should NOT be allowed to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
#RUS hooligans are not one of them.

RU hooligans is an endearing Russian term for simply..neo Nazi"s BUT WAIT there cannot possibly be any neo Nazi"s in Russia after WW2 can there?????

HOW often have we heard Putin use the term "provoked" MAYBE a 1000 times since Crimea....

In the face of massive social media carried video footage showing Russians "provoked" and brutally beat UK fans....

Russian media now: Yes, ours attacked, but we were provoked.
Where did I hear that before?!https://life.ru/t/%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8/418933/rossiiskiie_bolielshchiki_atakovali_siektor_s_fana tami_sbornoi_anghlii_poslie_matcha …

The Moscow Times ‏@MoscowTimes
An English fan is attacked by three men at the England vs. #Russia football match in Marseille. #EURO2016

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First it was doping for the Russian toss out and now thus.....they cannot seem to keep their own "neo Nazi's in line"......

Guardian: #UEFA opens case against #Russia but not England after #EURO2016 violence
http://uatoday.tv/sport/guardian-uefa-opens-case-against-russia-but-not-england-after-euro-2016-fan-violence-671311.html …

The leading #Russia|n thug pumps up the thugs attacking English fans on the terraces last night
https://twitter.com/RobPulseNews/status/741982647166115840 …

UEFA: "We will not hesitate to impose further sanctions".
Interesting considering threats #RUS hooligans already made against #POL #UKR

FAMOUS saying ......."Sports is just another form of Russian combat"
BTW...this saying is not far from the truth is it....???

Russian #EURO2016 'fans' in #Marseilles. T-shirts read 'we are born for war' (Via @golub)

Russia is racist??...come on....just look at the massive blog comments pointed at Ukraine for the last two years....

Rus is angry that UEFA match delegate/officials made the allegation of racist chanting during match against #Eng in Marseille yesterday

Stocky guys, organised, in disguise, accompanied by false news feeds. Looks planned in advance.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/russian-ultras-wore-england-shirts-8172861#ICID=sharebar_twitter …

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MORE attempts by a Muslim to explain to other Muslims the "ritual of soccer".....

In European culture, taking off your shirt when drunk is a pre-battle religious ritual that symbolizes martyrdom

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FINALLY a small amount of "truth" comes out of Moscow......

Russian TV admits: "Not only did Russian fans bring fireworks into the stands, which is forbidden, they broke through to the English fans.."

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Well the "truth" got suddenly lost.......again....

The latest from the Moscow propaganda machine this morning is that in reality all those Russian soccer fans were really just Ukrainian Nazi's disguised as Russian fans wanting to damage the image of Russian sportsmanship.....

Finally, "that were not us" by RU media! :) "[#Marseiile] clashes organized by Ukrainian Nazis, pretending Russians"
http://archive.is/xyfzb

AND this is not non linear warfare....??

Ukrainian and German fans clash in Lille before the start of the match (video)
http://uatoday.tv/sport/ukrainian-and-german-fans-clash-in-lille-before-the-start-of-the-match-video-671645.html …

Some are actually saying that a number of the so called Germans involved were actually ethnic Russians with dual citizenship. WHICH if one believes Russian propaganda no Russian is now allowed to hold a foreign passport at the same they hold a Russian passport.

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Appears now that there were "little green GRU Spetsnaz men" hard at work as "vacationing fans"...where have we heard the term "vacationers" before...oh those Russian military that took a vacation and drove their tanks into eastern Ukraine 2014.....they were quite simply "on a holiday"....

BBC News - 150 Russians 'behind' Euro 2016 violence - "these are extremely well-trained people"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36515213 …

150 makeup a solid GRU Spetsnaz Bn.......

Russian MP Igor Lebedev praises Russian fans and blames French police for the violence.

French prosecutors say 150 Russians were behind the Marseille violence. I say it's one Russian.....Putin......

Forewarned by FSB.....?????
BREAKING 150 'well-trained' Russian #EURO2016 hooligans escaped arrest: Marseille prosecutor: @AFP

So...exactly "little green men" on a soccer vacation....suddenly now back in Moscow........

"Extremely well prepared fighters." They prepared in Donbass.
https://twitter.com/lifenews_ru/status/742296003064254464 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Reference those so called Russian "vacationing soccer fans"......

In German....

ARTIKEL @BILD

Frankreich: Russische „bestausgebildete, paramilitärische Gruppen" im Land!

http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/em-2016/paramilitaerische-hooligans-46277770.bild.html …

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Russian officials have now crossed into the altered state of vodka with their comments.....

RU prosecution spokesman says RU thug-fans are "normal guys", French prosecution just "not used to seeing non-gays" https://twitter.com/VladimirMarkin/status/742371406789419010 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Amazing restraint shown by Ukrainian football fans as Graham Phillips tries to goad them into violence.
https://www.facebook.com/oleshkomiroslav/videos/vb.100000444264109/1218224501535680/?type=2&theater …

Graham Phillips is a former UK Russia Today reporter who worked for the Russian military news channel in eastern Ukraine and was in and around a number of ongoing mercenary war crimes......torturing and then killing of UAF POWs....AND yet the UK does nothing against him for supporting and contributing to terrorism.

Close friends with the Russian FSB....

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SHOCKING: Russian hooligan wears a go pro which shows us them hunting down the English fans. (@90thMin)

Russia's new breed of football hooligan say they're just taking on the English at their own game
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-

Notorious far-right activist at Euro 2016 with Russian FA delegation
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/13/far-right-activist-euro-2016-russian-fa-alexander-shprygin-nazi-salute …

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Now getting interesting for Russia ...fined 150K euros and placed on suspended disqualification if any further hooligan activity occurs....THEN TWO Russian neo Nazi's just attacked two female UK fans just walking down the street and were immediately arrested by the French......

RU fan-clubs chief says their deportation is caused by deterioration, "imminent death" of English fan RU's attacked. https://twitter.com/Shprygin/status/742728159825629184 …

Watch also these #GRU / spetsnatz tattoos from #Russia/n ultras at #France #UEFA2016

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Russian 'ultras' attack #ENG and #WAL fans in Lille as thugs ignore UEFA threat
http://dailym.ai/1Xnz38M

One has to love the Russian propaganda media Sputnik for their explanation of why their Russian ultras are running amok.....

Why Russian Football Fans Became Focus of Western Media Attention: English fans were asking for trouble:http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160614/1041330254/russia-football-fans-euro2016.html …

You didn't stop Russians then they killed Chechens. NOW THEY REACHED YOU. Russian soccer hooligans in action:video
http://reut.rs/1VXM6ga

BREAKING: Russian football hooligans were flown to france on RU Gov plane for free #hybridwar

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Russian Football Louts in Marseilles Part of Putin’s ‘Hybrid War’ Against West: Milshtein
http://www.interpretermag.com/june-14-2016/#14206 …

[Azor]

Russian Football Louts in Marseilles Part of Putin’s ‘Hybrid War’ Against West...

Couldn't agree more. These were not fans but sober MMA professionals who came to provoke a fight and attack England fans. More tough guy showmanship...

[davidbfpo]

Few doubt the violence unleashed by Russian "fans" in France in the last few days, during the Euro 2016, with the prospect of more. Now whether as some suggest it is those "little green men" pursuing 'hybrid warfare' is a moot point.

This thread will continue in a moment a number of posts that appear, thanks to Outlaw09 in a Ukraine thread.

[OUTLAW 09]

Sports is just "war" with another name..........

Lavrov: Detention of Russian 'fans' unacceptable.
Those 'fans' are state-organised people, maybe even some of the off.#EURO2016 delegation.

When one of those so called official Russian delegates is in fact a leading Russian neo Nazi/fascist.....then maybe Lavrov needs to rethink his statement.

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Donbass "Little Green Men" -‘They’re more than Ultras’: Insider on how Russian ‘fans’ prepare for clashes w/ rivals
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/euro-2016-russian-insider-reveals-football-hooligans-are-more-than-ultras-who-train-for-fights-with-a7082531.html …

[OUTLAW 09]

Sports is just "war" with another name..........

Lavrov: Detention of Russian 'fans' unacceptable.
Those 'fans' are state-organised people, maybe even some of the off.#EURO2016 delegation.

When one of those so called official Russian delegates is in fact a leading Russian neo Nazi/fascist.....then maybe Lavrov needs to rethink his statement.

Maybe a new Russian prelude to "rescuing an oppressed Russian speaking population" recently discovered to be residing in France.....

BUT WAIT the Russian "invasion" sorry wrong PC word...."incursion".... to free their oppressed fellow Russian speaking countrymen might just be around the corner.....

Sputnik
✔ @SputnikInt BREAKING Moscow summons French envoy over Russian fans detention during #EURO2016
http://sptnkne.ws/b3Uk #Marseille

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Russia football fans daring #UEFA to disqualify #RUS team with this flare, specifically prohibited by #EURO2016. https://twitter.com/samborden/status/743090451922726912 …

[OUTLAW 09]

Interesting that a Ukrainian commenter called this correctly just after the first major fighting of the Russian ultra group...that they had fought in eastern Ukraine as mercenaries.....

Russian ultra's in France also nationalists fighting with Donbas separatists = Russian intelligence knew of them
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/euro-2016-russian-insider-reveals-football-hooligans-are-more-than-ultras-who-train-for-fights-with-a7082531.html …

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AND the "ultras" are not guided by Moscow.....definitely not "soccer fans"....

Sports Minister Says Russian Football Fans Could Clash Again 'If Provoked' | News | The Moscow Times http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/sports-minister-says-russian-football-fans-could-clash-again-if-provoked/572668.html …

The Chekist and nihilist Putin is giving his titushky -- trained, ultra-violent thugs -- their western European debut, attacking #Euro2016

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"Independent" journo talks to Nikolai: Rus football fan & military vet who was helping wounded militants in Donbas
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/euro-2016-russian-insider-reveals-football-hooligans-are-more-than-ultras-who-train-for-fights-with-a7082531.html …

BUT WAIT...maybe Russia is using them to sideline the following deep and serious discussion on whether Russia will be allowed at all to attend any future sporting event....After stating publicly they are fully complying with WADA.

Russia2016
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) wanted to test 1191 Russian athletes for doping.

38% negative
4% positive
58% avoided the test.

Their soccer team tried unsuccessfully to avoid several of their players from being tested after their match yesterday as is required of all participants to the EM.

[OUTLAW 09]

Social media open source analysis has ID'd one of the Russian "ultras"......

Alexander didn't change much since then.
He with a "New Russian Empire" flag in Ostrava, Czech Republic, May 2015.

Five more being possibly ID'd as being from the fighting in eastern Ukraine.....social media is looking at their FB/VK accounts to confirm.

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Sorry in German....German MSM carried a solid report on the Russian "ultras" yesterday.

tagesthemen ‏@tagesthemen
"Geplant und organisiert." @o_sundermeyer in den online-@tagesthemen zur Gewalt von #Hooligans bei der #euro2016

Violence...planned and organized.......

Sehr profunde Einschätzungen zu den russ. Hooligans in der Online Ausgabe von #Tagesthemen

[OUTLAW 09]

Watch what Russian football fans back home think of the violence at #EURO2016
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36542662 …

For Putin and Russians in general...it is always "someone else"......

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Russian FM attempted yesterday to "protect" him by claiming he was an official member of the EM 2016 Russian sport delegation.....Paris did not "buy" the Russian FM's statements......

Probably a surprise this morning to the Russians that Paris was in fact serious about tossing someone out of France.

Euro 2016: France expels Russia far-right fan chief Shprygin - BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36546183 …

Will be interesting to see if Russia wants to increase their attitude and risk the WC 2018 and be tossed out of France altogether OR tone it down?????

Especially coupled with the recent massive rejection by Russian athletes (58% of 1200 with 10% being found to be doping) to do the latest round of WADA testing...which will end up in basically kicking Russia out of all international sporting events now and in the futures AND for Russia sports is all about "war".....ie "winning at all costs"......

WADA says meldonium the performance enhancement drug was in 49 out of 52 adverse tests on Russian athletes
http://www.unian.info/world/1377244-wada-says-meldonium-in-49-out-of-52-adverse-tests-on-russian-athletes.html …

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French riot police calls them "hooligans" or "paramilitary groups".
But MEDIA must remain "neutral" again ...

AFP news agency Verified account 
‏@AFP
#BREAKING Russian fans jailed for up to 2 years for Euro 2016 violence

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Talk Show Host Drowns Out Russian Sportscaster Telling Truth About Fan Violence
http://www.interpretermag.com/russia-update-june-16-2016/#14225 …

[davidbfpo]

Violence aside, do not overlook that Russia is hosting the UEFA tournament in 2018, in Moscow and other cities. Plus the World Cup in June-July 2018, one set of marches are to be played @Kalinngrad.

There is much more to play here.

I know some UK papers have queried whether Russia is a safe destination for fans to visit; let alone if both tournaments should go ahead.

[OUTLAW 09]

Russian Talk Show Host Drowns Out Russian Sportscaster Telling Truth About Fan Violence
http://www.interpretermag.com/russia-update-june-16-2016/#14225 …

We need a little humor these days.......

Fascist France proves EU is run by Nazis by deporting famous #Russian anti-fascist soccer fan @Shprygin #EURO2016

[OUTLAW 09]

Violence aside, do not overlook that Russia is hosting the UEFA tournament in 2018, in Moscow and other cities. Plus the World Cup in June-July 2018, one set of marches are to be played @Kalinngrad.

There is much more to play here.

I know some UK papers have queried whether Russia is a safe destination for fans to visit; let alone if both tournaments should go ahead.

In a local Moscow newspaper they released photos today of what the Russian security forces for the games will have......an automatic CS grenade launcher capable of firing 24 rounds inside one minute....will be vehicle mounted....so the Russians are ready for a "sports war" in 2018......

[OUTLAW 09]

Russians tourists should boycott France, say Federation Council member
http://ria.ru/euro2016/20160616/1448820468.html …

After Russia has stopped tourism by their citizens to a number of countries due to Turkey and the sanctions....and now France...not sure where Russians can go on a vacation these days....

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AND sports is not a part and parcel of "soft Russian power" inside their non linear warfare........??

Russian hooligans see themselves as Kremlin foot soldiers
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-soccer-euro-russia-idUSKCN0YZ1Z7 …

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In German...an article on the use of fake social media accounts used to support the "little green soccer fans".......actually Russian troll factory "Forest Echo News" imitating fake news....

Thema fr Euch? Fake-Accounts und geklaute Profilbilder: Troll-Fabrik heizt Hooligans an:
http://wat.is/Yt8TUBAAy4fzDshC

[OUTLAW 09]

French message sent directly to Putin......

All three Russian men jailed in France for violence at Euro 2016 were leaders of official Russian fan clubs:
http://m.msk.kp.ru/daily/26543/3559751/ …

[OUTLAW 09]

Russia's football louts in #France - part of Putin’s ‘hybrid war’ against the West
http://euromaidanpress.com/2016/06/15/russian-football-louts-in-marseilles-part-of-putins-hybrid-war-against-the-west-milshtein-says/ …

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RUS media's new conspiracy theory: fights in Marseilles orchestrated by Ukrainian Nazis and (wait for it) Mossad. Makes sense. :confused:

Many Qs about Marseille violence but I'm remaining a bit sceptical about this Whitehall view
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/18/whitehall-suspects-kremlin-links-to-russian-euro-2016-hooligans-vladimir-putin?CMP=twt_gu …

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Putin encouraged nationalists to attack+intimidate anti-govt protesters. Same hooligans at #EURO2016. https://twitter.com/openrussia_org/status/744447644919963649 …

Russian trolls and Russian twitter bot networks are now using the hashtag EURO2016 to spread their info war comments via the net as they know the hashtag is being followed by millions of users.....

New info war term...hashtag trolling......

[davidbfpo]

Well it seems that the Russian Federation Olympic Team will not be at the Rio Olympics; taken from NYT:
The decision by the International Olympic Committee effectively ended any hopes that the team, accused of widespread doping, can participate in the Games this summer.

[OUTLAW 09]

Putin's spokesperson from today......

Peskov calls the Guardian's article about possible Kremlin links by RU football hooligans, 'russophobic hysteria'

[OUTLAW 09]

"Russian authories are the only one who support fans’ violence" -
Roman Anin from @novaya_gazeta

Roman Anin from @novaya_gazeta: "Expectations about tomorrow Russia-Wales game aren't good"
http://bit.ly/1Uhk3DP

[OUTLAW 09]

RUS "soccer fans" thugs arrived in #Moscow and Putin TV shows them as national heroes.

Russian "soccer info warfare" is still working hard......

Julia Davis @JuliaDavisNews
#RussiaLies - this time, @RT_russian claimed that #Eng fans had it coming (quoting 2 nonexistent journos)
#Euro2016

Chief obscurantist w a window view on Kremlin @shaunwalker7 says he's "skeptical" #putin's thugs are "hybrid war" https://twitter.com/shaunwalker7/status/744263002543775745 …

What are your grounds @shaunwalker7 for skepticism? #putin-sent thugs w спецназ tattoos arrived on a free #Kremlin charter, why? @MSnegovaya

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While I really like Marks' work on Russia...balance his comments against the Russian media reception of the Russian thugs when arriving in Moscow......

https://inmoscowsshadows.wordpress.com/2016/06/19/russias-little-green-fan-problem-football-hooligans-the-new-nationalism-and-the-western-narrative/

Russia’s “Little Green Fan” Problem: football hooligans, the new nationalism, and the Western narrative


The open enthusiasm of some Russian politicians about the thuggish behaviour of their football fans in France speaks volumes about the boorish nationalism and crude us-versus-the-world mentality that has been liberated by Putin in recent years. Compared with the ongoing war in the Donbas or the crackdown on independent media and NGOs, it may seem trivial to focus on Liberal Democrat parliamentarian Igor Lebedev’s tweeted comment that he didn’t “see anything wrong with the fans fighting. Quite the opposite, well done lads, keep it up!” or indeed Putin’s disingenuous question as to “how 200 Russian fans could beat several thousand of the British.”

But of course this is all part of a common pattern of mulish and wilful refusal to accept any fault or responsibility, a determination instead to blame everything on everyone else. And the result is a vicious circle that sees the rest of the world, although especially the West, all the less tolerant of Russia (witness the doping-related sanctions on its athletes). This, in turn, fuels Russia’s querulous persecution complex and the adolescent tantrums through which it is manifest.

And yet for all that, there is also a dangerous Western narrative that the Kremlin is the malign grandmaster behind everything that goes wrong, from Brexit to migration. The hooligan crisis has likewise been inserted into this unfolding narrative, notably in an article based wholly on anonymous and unsupported “Whitehall experts”, that “It looks like a continuation of the hybrid warfare deployed by Putin.”

Let’s put aside the fact that calling Russia’s approach hybrid warfare is unhelpful and inaccurate. The tissue-thin evidence on which this is based is that “a number of [the fans] are in the uniformed services” and that “UK police spotters saw some 150 Russia fans ‘tooling up’ with gum shields, fingerless martial arts gloves and bandanas.”

Russia has an inglorious and brutal history of very violent fan-hooligan activity. Any football match where stakes are high and rivalries long-standing tends to be the focus of a massive and heavy-handed police operation that involved truckloads of Interior Troops, hundreds of “cosmonauts” – riot police in full armour – and water cannon at the ready. These fanaty, alas, are more interested in the fight than the game, and train, prepare and kit themselves out accordingly. You don’t have to have been issued a Kremlin playbook to ‘tool up’ – and frankly if the Russians were training them as “hybrid warriors” I’d imagine they could come up with better advice than wearing bandanas.

It also ignores the point that for all the crass public statements from Russian politicians, the government apparatus was actually involved in sharing information with their French counterparts and back in May had already published a bill – since passed in the State Duma – on publicising blacklists of known hooligans. It is also worth mentioning that after first trying to make light of the problem, the embattled Sports Minister, Vitaly Mutko, then admitted that those involved in the violence “brought shame on their country.”

After all, what benefit would Moscow gain from such “hybrid warfare”? It hardly endears Europe to the Russians, and is not the scale of an issue that meaningfully distracts it from any other activities. It exploits and opens no internal fault lines. All it does is contribute to a sense that Russians are inherently unpleasant, uncivilised, untrustworthy. Indeed, it raises once again the question as to whether Russia is a safe and justified venue for the 2018 World Cup, the last thing the Kremlin wants. (Both for reasons of national pride and also because it is another vehicle for controlled embezzlement by favoured members of the elite.)

So the truth of the matter is complex. The current nationalist line obviously encourages those who choose to see it as granting them license to take their prejudices to the streets. Sometimes, the government actively seeks to use them, especially to intimidate the opposition. Yet the Kremlin is also keenly aware of the risks in uncontrolled violence and its populism has distinct limits. Furthermore, there are many within the government who are simply doing their jobs and embarrassed by and opposed to these law-breakers.

Let us in the West by all means decry the cheap and nasty rhetoric of the Lebedevs of this world, and acknowledge the deep social malaise which engenders this subculture of violent, right-wing, racist and homophobic tribalism. But let’s not try to twist and distort it into a narrative of weaponised everything, not only because it is wrong – though it is – but also because the more we lie to ourselves, the less able we are to deal with the real challenges before us. Every time someone decides to see a shadowy Kremlin hand in something over which it has no real authority, we empower Putin. Whether in over-stating his military might or, as here, seeing every tattooed hooligan as a “little green fan,” we build him up far more than he deserves.

[OUTLAW 09]

A typical Russian vodka moment....he assumed that being deported from France two days ago "allows he to come back".....or so he assumed.....

BBC Breaking News 
‏@BBCBreaking
Russia football fan leader Alexander Shprygin detained in France two days after being deported to Moscow - officials


This time he might in fact have to serve his two year sentence that was parked when he was deported...........

[OUTLAW 09]

A typical Russian vodka moment....he assumed that being deported from France two days ago "allows he to come back".....or so he assumed.....

BBC Breaking News 
‏@BBCBreaking
Russia football fan leader Alexander Shprygin detained in France two days after being deported to Moscow - officials


This time he might in fact have to serve his two year sentence that was parked when he was deported...........

Russia's far-right football fan leader Shprygin to be expelled from France–again–after he snuck back in
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/russian-football-fan-leader-probably-expelled-france-tuesday-114220939--sow.html?soc_src=mediacontentsharebuttons&soc_trk=tw …

[OUTLAW 09]

Late reference to the little green soccer players....

Some news from the Russian hooligans jailed in France: they are boxing, learning french... and being basically ignored by Russian diplomats.

We saw the same exact Russian diplomatic behavior with the two Ukrainian captured Russian Spetsnaz officers....seldom visited by Russian diplomats...a total of twice actually.

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BBC doc:Russians who attacked English in Marseille were "special military forces of football hooligans sent by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin"

BBC video......
https://youtu.be/hJnR5XmOZeo

[davidbfpo]

BBC doc:Russians who attacked English in Marseille were "special military forces of football hooligans sent by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin"

BBC video......https://youtu.be/hJnR5XmOZeo

Brilliant catch, that's tonight's watching settled then.

I note the reporter refers to the forthcoming Euro Cup fixtures in Russia in 2018, perhaps those who attend will find their travel insurance (if they have it) will become a 'dangerous sport'.

[OUTLAW 09]

BBC doc:Russians who attacked English in Marseille were "special military forces of football hooligans sent by Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin"

BBC video......
https://youtu.be/hJnR5XmOZeo


https://20committee.com/2016/06/20/the-kremlins-football-hooligans-another-face-of-putins-special-war/

The Kremlin’s Football Hooligans – Another Face of Putin’s Special War

June 20, 2016


This year’s UEFA European Championship has been rocked by violence. While football hooliganism is nothing new, what happened this year appears organized as well as political. Moreover, the worst hooligans involved are Russian. Given the difficult relations at present between Moscow and the European Union, questions have arisen about what’s really going on.
First, the facts. Although UEFA expected some violence this year, what has happened exceeded all expectations. The worst incident was the England-Russia match at Marseille on June 11, which featured pre-game combat between fans. Russian “ultras” charged at English fans, injuring several, some seriously. Bottles and bar chairs were among the improvised weapons employed. The Russians seemed well prepared, with some of the “ultras” wearing mouth-guards for protection while others sported England shirts – a case of deception to assist their attack.
Then, right at the end of the match, 150 determined Russians charged the England section of the stadium, sending hundreds of fans fleeing for their lives. Police were slow to restore order, and by the time the melée ended, 35 attendees were injured, four of them seriously, including two England fans left comatose.
As shocking as the conduct of Russian “ultras” was in Marseille, the comments that followed their brawling made matters even worse. Although Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s sports minister, allowed that the “ultras” had behaved badly and had “shamed” their country, others were less willing to back down.
Some Kremlin officials greeted the Battle of Marseille with glee. A senior Russian MP tweeted his support for the rioters: “Don’t see anything wrong with the fight fans. On the contrary, well done our boys. Keep it up!”
Some Russians have found fault with allegedly effeminate French police, including this memorable jibe from a senior Kremlin police official: “A normal man, as a man should be, surprises them. They are used to seeing ‘men’ at gay parades.”
Even Vladimir Putin got in the act. Several days after the Marseille riot, Russia’s president commented at the Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, “Do you know when the football cup started there was a fight of Russian fans with the British ones, but I don’t know how 200 Russian fans could fight several thousand of the British.” Although Mr. Putin has criticized the actions of his fellow countrymen at Marseille, this statement was an unsubtle dig at England fans.
UEFA has reacted promptly to Russian misconduct. Two days after the Marseille riot, it fined Russia 150,000 Euros and issued a suspended disqualification for violence by “ultras,” adding that a repeat of such events would result in the team’s expulsion from the tournament.
However, the violence has continued, albeit not at the scale witnessed in Marseille. There have been numerous scuffles between Russian fans and others. Most seriously, Russian hooligans attacked and injured several tourists outside the famous Cologne Cathedral. Six Russians were arrested for the attack. The men were on their way to Cologne Airport to catch a flight back to Moscow. Although the attack appeared to be spontaneous, the hooligans had gloves and wore balaclavas – hardly normal attire in June.
In response to these assaults, French authorities have expelled 20 Russians on national security grounds. In addition, three Russians who participated in the Marseille riot received jail terms from a French court for their role in the violence: Aleksei Yerunov, the head of the fan club for Moscow’s Lokomotiv team, was handed two years, while Sergei Gorbachev received 1.5 years and Nikolai Morozov one year in prison.
Among the Russians deported from France is Aleksandr Shprygin, leader of the All-Russian Football Supporters Union, who is a notorious far-right thug with neo-Nazi views.# Infamous for showing off in public, sometimes with a Hitler salute – on occasion brandishing it alongside topless women for the cameras – the 38-year-old Shprygin is no stranger to Russia’s political elite and he is popular among ultranationalists for his combative antics.
There are widespread suspicions that Russian football hooliganism exported to Western Europe may be no accident. In the first place, the “ultras” do not resemble the drunken Russians who usually show up at UEFA events, sometimes causing trouble. The younger generation is fitter, seemingly preferring weightlifting to vodka, and much better trained and organized for street combat. They are also markedly more aggressive than the previous generation of Russian football hooligans.
Several of the “ultras” have boasted of military service in Eastern Ukraine in Russia’s undeclared two-year-old war in the Donbas, leading Western security services to wonder if they are connected with the Kremlin, particularly the General Staff’s Main Intelligence Directorate or GRU, which was responsible for the appearance of “Little Green Men” in Crimea in March 2014.
British intelligence suspects that GRU is indeed behind the “ultras” and that they are part of what some call Kremlin “hybrid warfare,” which I have termed Special War. This is a new generation of intelligence-led attacks on Western countries, encompassing espionage, propaganda, subversion, and even terrorism, with the presence of Kremlin operatives being camouflaged. The intent of Special War is to clandestinely influence politics in Moscow’s favor – and to send a message that Russia is not to be trifled with.
Evidence for GRU involvement is circumstantial but important. Those in the know have noted that Mr. Shprygin got his start as a fan for Dynamo, the Moscow sports club that was founded by the KGB and continues to be run by its successors. Then there’s the fact that the Russian Football Union arranged for a special charter flight to get 230 hardcore fans to the June 11 game in Marseille.
Not to mention that several of the “ultras” who reached France sported large GRU tattoos. These are distinctive, featuring the black bat which is the GRU logo. Some of the tattoos, clearly obtained as a souvenir of service, included specific unit designations while others even include the letters GRU (ГРУ in Russian).
A French intelligence official told me that several of the “ultras” were “definitely GRU, whether past or present we don’t yet know.” A BfV official added that he had “little doubt that Marseille got a visit from GRU” and that it was no accident. “So a company of SPETSNAZ [Russian military special forces, controlled by GRU] ‘suddenly’ appears in France for a football match and we’re supposed to believe it’s all by chance?” he asked.
A former GRU officer who now lives in the West agreed with that assessment, pointing out that sport was controlled by the Kremlin during Soviet times, and this is just one more aspect of life in the USSR that Vladimir Putin has resurrected. “Putin seeks to cause fear in Western Europe, and what better way than to send hardened fighters to disrupt high-profile matches?” “I remember the look that these ‘ultras’ have – lean, mean, and eager to fight – from my own time with GRU. I have no doubt who these young men are,” he added.
The worst of the Russian troublemakers have been sent home now but it appears that this is just one more secret front that Mr. Putin has opened against the West under the rubric of Special War. European football hardly needs more hooligans, but Moscow seems eager to supply them. We have likely not seen the last of GRU’s “Little Green Men” masquerading as football fans.
(This article appeared in the German newspaper BILD, you can read that here.)