Russia 2018 will be ultra-safe says notorious Russian (ex) hooligan Vasily – Putin’s secret police have made sure of that
Brit football fans can expect a safe and trouble-free welcome 'when' they make their way to the World Cup in Russia, according to the former thug famed for countless bloody beatings
THE monster’s green eyes lasered me with a glowering Incredible Hulk stare as we finally came face to face.
He had chosen a backstreet cafe in a windswept Moscow suburb for our rendezvous.
And I suddenly felt very small as his vast tattooed frame, complete with steamhammer fists, loomed over me at a corner table.
Perhaps it hadn’t been such a good idea after all to fix a meeting with Vasily the Killer, Russia’s most notorious football hooligan and poster boy for the country’s infamous Ultras.
But the bearded beast famed for countless bloody yob battles didn’t serve up the brutal beating I feared — he gave me tea and cake.
For him, violence is a thing of the past, or at least that’s what he wants me to believe.
He tells me: “These days you’re more likely to find me playing chess with my five-year-old daughter than beating the s*** out of someone.”
The reason has less to do with any conversion to a life of peace and more to do with the sinister tactics of the Federal Security Service (FSB), President Vladimir Putin’s version of the Soviet KGB.
Topping up his tea in a dainty white china cup, Vasily Stepanov, his real name, 38, says: “There will be no trouble. Our police have seen to that.
Vasily claims he has never taken a life or been convicted of any criminal offence, and insists he is now a deeply religious family man
“Known hooligans have been spoken to and you will find them on holiday or visiting their grandma during the tournament. They will not go anywhere near the matches.
“I have retired from hooliganism so I will go to games, and if an England fan recognises me he should not be scared, he should ask me for a selfie.”
Groups of highly organised, Moscow-based thugs sparked mayhem in the port of Marseille before Russia and England’s opening Group B clash.
Putin fanned the flames with veiled praise for his nation’s soccer savages, asking amid laughter how “200 of our fans could beat up several thousand English”.
But spiralling fan fears are threatening to turn next year’s £26billion World Cup showpiece into a financial and PR disaster.
That prospect does not sit well with former KGB strongman Putin, despite his self-styled image as a no- nonsense hardman. Marseille Round Two is out of the question for him.
He is thought to have personally ordered the muzzling of his hooligan attack dogs for the duration.
Eduard Latypov, of the Russia Unite fans’ union, told The Sun: “The FSB has invited known hooligans for a ‘friendly chat’ about what might happen to them if they misbehave.
“Around 1,000 fans have been banned already after authorities traced their online posts and legislation was toughened up in April.
“But the fear of a visit from the police is usually enough to bring people into line in Russia, it’s a psychological throwback to the old Soviet days.”
Vasily also claims Putin has got a handle on things, saying: “He is my president and will make sure that the police and security forces keep everything in order next year. It will be the safest World Cup ever.
“I was in Russia for the birth of my fifth child when the English insulted us in Marseille. They got what they deserved. Our boys did good work that day.
“But next year your people will be my friends and they will see I am not a monster.
“I know that nothing like Marseille could possibly happen here because the authorities simply won’t tolerate it.”
Hooligan godfather Vasily — who helped found the Spartak Moscow Gladiators firm in 1996 — is famed for his brutal battles with his CSKA Moscow, Zenit St Petersburg and Dynamo Moscow rivals.
He led a 1,000-strong fighting unit against Zenit in 2007 at Severyanin, near Moscow, in the biggest yob battle in Russian football history.
He earned his “Killer” nickname that day after leaving victims for dead. He later had a gumshield made for fights bearing the moniker.
Vasily claims he has never taken a life or been convicted of any criminal offence, and insists he is now a deeply religious family man.
Living in a leafy Moscow suburb with his wife and five children, the one-time wild streetfighter takes his kids to Sunday school and is helping fund the building of a new church.
His T-shirt hides a patchwork of tattoos saluting his hooligan tribe. He says: “I still feel very close to my hooligan family and my old Spartak comrades.
“But God, the church and my children are more important to me now. My eight-year-old son is a very good boxer and it will be for him to decide if he wants to become a hooligan when the time comes.
“If he chooses that path I will teach him the code he must follow. We fight with fists, not weapons, and never involve the police no matter how badly people get hurt.
“I have been hospitalised many times but I have sent my enemies to hospital many more times — that is how I got my name.”
Vasily is not the only thug to have gained worldwide notoriety, as well as the attention of the FSB. Far-right fan leader Alexander Shprygin — a pal of Putin’s — was caught up in claims that Russian authorities had secretly egged on their yobs in Marseille last year.
He was among 20 Russians facing deportation from France amid the violence, and his defence was not helped when a picture emerged from 2001 of him giving an apparent Nazi salute next a topless girl.
Igor Lebdev, the Russian lawmaker who employs Shprygin, sparked further fury by telling yobs on Twitter after the Marseille bloodbath: “Well done lads — keep it up!”
But businessman Shprygin, 39, was recently paid a visit by the FSB.
His car was mysteriously torched as authorities moved to curb the hooligan threat to Russia 2018. And his Russian Union of Supporters group has been ordered to cease all activities after it was revealed to have unwittingly ferried thugs to Marseille.
Shprygin tells The Sun: “They spent ten hours searching my offices after they questioned me. They were taking the matter very seriously.
“No one wants problems from the police in Russia and they are controlling the situation now.
“Hooligans will go into hiding and will not come back until after the World Cup. They have been warned.
“So England fans and other supporters will be absolutely safe.”
Champions League matches in Moscow this week, in which Liverpool played Spartak and Manchester United took on CSKA, were viewed as crucial security litmus tests.
Not a single arrest nor incident was reported at the games amid a huge security operation throughout the city. Around 2,000 rival fans from the two Premier League clubs poured into the Russian capital for the games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
But 5,500 police kept them apart — and none of the hundreds of hardcore Russian hooligans showed their faces. Police and armed special forces ringed the stadiums and corralled fans through airport-style security cordons as every barcoded match ticket was scanned.
Authorities pledged next year’s tournament will be similarly trouble free.
World Cup security chief Andrey Zakharov said: “English supporters have absolutely nothing to be worried about. Russia is a hospitable country.”
Russia Unite’s Eduard added: “England fans can look forward to cheap beer, great vodka, good food, beautiful women and a football party.
“The only place they can expect a beating will be on the pitch.”
