But French fail to arrest any of the ‘ hyper-violent’ Russian fans
AT LEAST 150 ‘hyper-violent’ Russian hooligans are poised to launch more attacks on England fans after French police failed to arrest them.
Officers struggled to contain the ‘extreme’ and ‘well-trained’ paramilitary-style thugs who stormed the England section at the end of Saturday’s Euro 2016 draw, Brice Robin, chief prosecutor of Marseille said.
After police failed to apprehend a single one of them, they are now believed to be travelling to Lille, in Northern France, where fans from both England and Russia are gathering ahead of their next fixtures.
The threat of more clashes came as a Russian MP praised the violent thugs, saying: ‘Well done lads, keep it up!’
Mr Robin said 150 known Russian hooligans had been responsible for ambushing drunk England fans during a wave of attacks inside and outside the Stade Velodrome.
Andrew Bache, 51, from Portsmouth, remains in a critical condition with brain injuries after being beaten on the head with an iron bar. Three other England fans are still in a serious condition.
But despite the savage assaults, Mr Robin said just two Russian fans had been arrested, and these were for pitch invasion rather than violent offences.
Asked why, he explained: ‘I don’t want to go as far as to suggest these are professionals but they are extreme and well-trained.’
The organised Russian Ultras were ‘hyperfast’ and ‘hyper-violent’, he added.
British police stopped the vast majority of known hooligans in England from travelling to France, Mr Robin said. But Russian authorities have no equivalent system.
Some Russians were stopped as they arrived at French airports, but those who travelled by train evaded the authorities. Russia are due to play their second match in Lille tomorrow. But British officers had issued pre-tournament advice to England and Wales fans to stay in Lille, which is close to the small city of Lens where the teams are set to meet on Thursday.
French security spokesman Veronique Planchon admitted it opened the possibility of more violence in the coming days.
Despite widespread condemnation of the violence, Igor Lebedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian parliament, tweeted: ‘I don’t see anything wrong with the fans fighting. Quite the opposite, well done lads, keep it up! I don’t understand those politicians and officials who are criticising our fans.
‘We should defend them, and then we can sort it out when they come home.’
Last night the Home Secretary said the French government must ask itself questions after the ‘deeply disturbing’ violence.
Theresa May said: ‘The French and Uefa will rightly be asking themselves searching questions about how the segregation of fans within the Velodrome stadium broke down.’