Russia has enlisted a full battalion of angry football hooligans to fight in Ukraine - despite them being banned from the terraces across Europe.
Just four years after Vladimir Putin vowed to banish its notorious hooligans as the eyes were on the country for the Fifa World Cup in 2018, the men are now fighting for their country.
The men have put aside their football allegiances and claim they are now fighting for Putin as part of the paramilitary forces of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic which the Kremlin has illegally annexed.
Many will see Putin's recruitment of “thugs” as a sign of the weakness of his armed forces, not strength.
Commanding officer of the hooligans is Stanislav 'Spaniard' Orlov, 41, who joined separatists in 2014 when he was the head of ‘Skull & Bones’ reconnaissance company which operated in Horlivka and Debaltseve.
The hooligan unit - known as Espanola and part of the Vostok battalion - includes recruits from the supporters of clubs like CSKA, Zenit, Spartak, Torpedo and Lokomotiv. They are among those fighting against the Ukrainians, as are notorious Orel Butchers.
Their main mascot is a lion cub they 'found' during fighting in Mariupol, but they have an adopted dog too.
“Disputes among fans of different clubs are prohibited,” Orlov told AIF media.
“All this must be left somewhere out there, far away, just like alcohol.”
The hooligans have lost one fighter in the war, but this has only spurred them on more, he said.
CSKA Moscow fan Maxim Shmanin, 44, was given a hero’s send off at his funeral last month.
“The motivation to stay and fight has only intensified,” said Orlov who is seen on a RIA Novosti state media video.
“They confidently declared: ‘Our comrade died here, and now this is our place’.”
He told Vechernyaya Moskva news outlet: “The combat part of the detachment are people who have military experience or have served in the army.
“After a short training course, they directly fight in the zone of the special operation.
“Russian fans form small infantry reconnaissance and assault groups or send them to sapper and engineering works.
“On the basis of the Vostok detachment, newcomers train to shoot automatic and large-caliber weapons, train in sapper work, conduct reconnaissance and combat drone flights, and hone tactical training from morning to evening.”
There are “no jokes….it is a tough, if not violent, subculture with high discipline and a kind of combat training.
“My goal is to pull all the hooligans into one structure.”
He claims to have “hundreds” wanting to join and a large operation in the “rear” providing supplies for the fighters.
“We would be able to create a huge unit, but we simply have no space for everyone,” said Orlov.
“We also train snipers, and in drones and air defence.
“We are on top with equipment, football supporters from different cities bring us everything we ask for.”
