In Marseille, Russian hooligans attacking rival fans and shedding blood work in Russian services and fight Vladimir Putin's hybrid war, said the United Kingdom government. Senior officials fear that the violence of Russian hooligans seen at the "Euro 2016" championship is blessed by the Kremlin and are now investigating the connections of the attacks with the Putin regime.
About this was announced on Sunday by the British "The Observer".
Goals - two
Last weekend in Marseille, Russian hooligans attacked English fans and one of them was beaten while shouting: "Die!". The hooligans' attacks were immediately praised by the Russian media, and publicly praised by government representatives.
Even Vladimir Putin himself stated that fights are a shame, but then joked, asking how a few hundred Russians could beat thousands of English.
Russian fans have repeatedly claimed that fights occurred due to provocations and eventually videos emerged where English fans curse Russia, and in one of them they even tear apart the Russian flag.
However, "The Observer" learned from sources that many of the hooligans involved in the organized attacks in Marseille and Lille were not so innocent. It is indicated that most hooligans in Russia serve in "uniformed services". The theory is simple - that Putin's blessed hooliganism is a continuation of Russia's hybrid war.
British experts fear that in this way Russia seeks to demonstrate power and at the same time depict its reality in its own state - that the whole world is uniting against the Russians.
Continuing the hybrid war?
After the bloody fights in Marseille, fake accesses to the social network "Twitter" were created. They announced that Russian fans were provoked. At that time, one member of the Russian Duma wrote: "Well done, guys. Keep going!"
Russian hooligans attacked the English with armed hammers and metal strips. Two English fans - 51-year-old Andrew Bache and Stewart Gray ended up in a coma.
At the end of the match between the Russian and English national teams, Russian fans stormed through the stands and attacked English supporters again. UEFA stated that if there are disturbances in the stadium again, the Russian national team will be sent home. France has already deported 21 Russian hooligans.
"The Observer" source in the United Kingdom government stated that in order to find those who caused the fights, the social internet space was thoroughly examined.
"It is difficult to prove that everything was organized by the Kremlin, but we can see how many of them belong to uniformed Russian services. This looks like a continuation of Putin's hybrid war," said the "The Observer" source.
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