WAR ZONE
Mob of Russian Ultras attacked English fans ‘like commandos’ in brutal Euro clashes that left Brit paralysed, says cop
A MARAUDING mob of Russian Ultras attacked English fans "like commandos" in brutal clashes which left one Brit paralysed, a cop revealed.
Tesco delivery driver Andrew Bache, 55, was left with massive skull injuries after being battered over the head with an iron bar in Marseille, France at Euro 2016.
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Mikhail Ivkine, 34, and Pavel Kosov, 33, face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty of the brutal assault amid horrific clashes before England played Russia in June 2016.
Both Russians have insisted they were only acting in ''self defence'' after they were attacked and before proceedings started Ivkine did apologise to Andrew's son Harry who was in court for the injuries to his father.
Kossov did not apologise although he did admit hitting Andrew although he claimed ''it was not that hard''.
Cop Gilles Montfort, 47, from the CRS squad on duty that day in the Old Port area of Marseilles, told the court the Russian thugs had acted ''like commandos'' as they carried out repeated attacks on defenceless Three Lions fans.
He said locals had tried to provoke the England fans, who had been drinking a lot, and they had responded with a few missiles being thrown but there were no full scale clashes until later in the day.
Major Montfort added:''Late in the afternoon I received a call on my radio, it was to warn me that a hundred Russian hooligans were coming down into the city from the Velodrome Stadium.
''A few minutes later tables, chairs and sun parasol poles were flying and the English were being massacred by the Russians. The English were drunk, very drunk but the Russians were not.
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"They arrived like an army, it was a commando style attack.
''Tear gas was fired and as the square emptied I saw Andrew Bache lying on the ground, on his stomach, unconscious. His face was swollen. He looked like a boxer coming out of bad fight.''
As the officer spoke stills and video of the aftermath were played in court and Harry wiped away tears as he saw his father lying blood soaked on the cobbles in the footage.
Fixing a stare on the pair Harry watched a video that showed Ivkine throwing a chair and then Kossov violently punching his father to the head knocking him to the ground.
Andrew's injuries meant he was unable to travel to Aix en Provence for the start of the trial yesterday.
The family's lawyer Olivier Rosato told the trial: "Mr Bache is so physically and psychologically affected that he is not able to express himself, even in videoconference.
"As a result of what happened, my client now lives a life between Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, suffering from serious memory problems and confined to his wheelchair."
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The lawyer added of the Portsmouth fan: "He is an average, ordinary working class man who is only passionate about his family, going to the pub and football.''
Andrew was left in a coma after he received at least three violent blows to the head.
Images from the day show him covered in blood on the ground.
His heart stopped as he lay injured, and he owes his life to a hero French policeman who gave him cardiac massage for three minutes.
Talking through video of the attack, Mr Rosato said: "The images speak for themselves.
"All day long the Russian hooligans led a real urban guerrilla warfare, like paramilitaries. For them, it was like a combat sport."
Mountain guide Kosov punched and kicked the victim, and sports teacher Ivkin struck him with a metal chair, the court heard.
The two defendants, both from Moscow, do not contest hitting the victim, but deny being responsible for the extent of his injuries.
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Lawyers for the two men claim they were provoked by English supporters and say they were acting in self-defence.
The pair have been held in custody since February 2018 after being tracked on social media by a joint French and British investigation.
Kosov was arrested in Cologne and Ivkine in Munich as they travelled to watch Spartak Moscow play Athletic Bilbao in Spain.
Kosov's lawyer Alain Duflot dismissed the prosecution claims and said: "This is not was not the nice English against the bloodthirsty Russians."
Julien Pinelli, defending Ivkine, said: "One can be a supporter of Spartak Moscow without being a hooligan."
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Both are charged with violent assembly and violence with a weapon resulting in permanent injury.
Another England fan, Stewart Gray, from Leicestershire, was also left in a coma following the violence which left another 32 Three Lions fans hurt.
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Russian president Vladimir Putin laughed off the trouble and said: "I don’t know how 200 fans could hurt several thousand Englishmen."
The trial is expected to go on until Friday.
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