#Euro2016: Russian Spetznaz on streets of Marseille?

England fans caught up in violent scenes in the French port of Marseille on Saturday night (11 June) have said groups of Russian hooligans launched “savage coordinated attacks” around the city, disguised in English club shirts and equipped with gum shields and telescopic truncheons.  There is speculation among informed European media that these attacks were organized by Russian Special Forces, Spetnaz, carrying out the provocations in which they specialize, writes Gary Cartwright of EU Today magazine.

Russian “fans” approached the violence, which occurred before and after England’s opening Euro 2016 game in Marseille, with “military organization”.

During the match itself there were scenes of extreme violence, when following the late goal Russian fans attacked the enclosure containing the England fans, having overpowered the stewards separating the two. Many, including women and children, were forced to clamber over security fences in an attempt to reach safety.

Ned Ozkasim, from London, who was in the stadium, told the BBC: “There was a large explosion, and after the Russian goal they started invading the area where some England fans were. I didn’t see any retaliation from the England fans - they were just trying to get away.”

Most worrying is that at a time of heightened security alert, and with European and foreign security services warning of likely terrorist attacks on EURO2016, Russians were able to smuggle explosives, flares, and even a flare pistol into the stadium.

Before and after the match itself, British fans were said to be “totally unprepared for the military style ambushes that they were subjected to.”

Many of those involved were described as dressed in black, with balaclavas, some wearing martial arts gloves and carrying truncheons. All were described as young, and “looking like bodybuilders”, and “not your usual football hooligan”.

One English fan attacked and hospitalised is, at the time of writing, said to be “hovering between life and death.”

So who were the men in black?

British journalists in the area pointed the finger at a gang of black-clad men, who they said had entered the port city’s main square from a side street apparently seeking violence.

The head of Britain’s Euro 2016 policing operation, assistant chief constable Mark Roberts, told the Guardian newspaper that the clashes in Marseille were the most serious he had seen in 10 years of investigating football violence.

Roberts admitted “a small minority” of England fans were out to cause trouble, but said there were hundreds of “Russian troublemakers”.

“Our spotters in Marseille saw them putting in gum shields and putting on martial arts gloves and bandanas before attacking England fans in the port,” Roberts was quoted as saying.

“We know some were carrying knives because one England fan was stabbed. They wore a kind of uniform—all in black T-shirts and clothing and most carried bum bags, possibly to conceal weapons,”

“Descriptions of the men and their behaviour, plus their ability to arrive at the scene, operate quickly and efficiently, and then vanish, are fuelling speculation that these attacks were organized by Russian Special Forces, Spetnaz, carrying out the provocations in which they specialize," says Cartwright.

The 'little green men', as they are nicknamed, always arrive unannounced, wearing no military insignia, and commence actions designed to divide and destabilize. The Russian state will never acknowledge any responsibility, but will always be very quick to question the evidence, deny the facts, and shift the blame for any unrest onto others. Think Georgia 2008. Think Crimea 2014.

Eventually, Vladimir Putin will simply shrug. Remember how quickly he went from “Let me be clear, I will say this clearly: There are no Russian troops in Ukraine.” To “We never said there were not people there who were carrying out certain tasks, including in the military sphere.”? It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell when Putin is telling the truth. Possibly it is impossible.”

Unsurprisingly, whilst the UK press has been critical of the behaviour of some of its own fans, the Russian state controlled media has presented a somewhat different (and to some observers ‘pre-prepared’) view of events from those seen by the rest of the world.

Kremlin-funded Russia Today (RT) quoted Aleksandr Shprigin, head of the “Russian football fans’ union” as saying that no mass clashes between the Russian and English fans in the stands had taken place.

“In fact, there was no clash,” he told TASS (also state owned) “The entire English sector… just got up and ran away. There were no scuffles, police were standing there. Everything is OK. The police are working well.”

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko blamed improper organization and “weak” security measures at the match for the brief scuffles, which he said are being exaggerated.

“There was no clash… that’s being exaggerated; in fact everything is fine here. When the match ended, there was no barrier between the fans. The British were upset, of course, but it all quickly dissolved,”

Russian MP Igor Lebedev called on Russian football fans to “keep up the good work”.

“I see nothing wrong with football fans fighting. On the contrary, well done to our boys! Keep up the good work!”

One might almost believe that these somewhat disingenuous statements came from the Kremlin press office itself.

Gary Cartwright is the publisher of EU Today. He has many years' experience working in the EU institutions, and is a former consulting editor of EU Reporter.

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