Mob of 150 Russian Ultras ‘trained to fight’ descend on Lille ready to attack England fans

A HARDCORE gang of 150 “ultra violent” Russian thugs are preparing to target England fans in Lille after giving police the slip, it is feared.

French officials warned the Russian mob — known as “ultras” — had been “trained to fight” and were involved in the worst of the fan violence that erupted in Marseilles at the start of the Euro 2016 soccer tournament.

Thirty-five people, most of them English, were injured during three days of fighting involving Russian, English and French fans and in clashes with riot police in Marseilles's Vieux Port (Old Port).

Marseilles prosecutor Brice Robin said: "There were 150 Russian supporters who in reality were hooligans.

“These people were well prepared for ultra-rapid, ultra-violent action.

"These are highly trained people.”

And at a press conference, Mr Robin revealed that while trials would be held for 10 people in custody later on Monday, none of them were Russian as they had given police the slip.

He said six Britons, an Austrian and three French nationals had all been charged with violence involving a weapon.

Asked why no Russians faced a court hearing, the prosecutor said they had carried out “lightning strikes” which made arrests difficult and CCTV was still being studied.

Mr Robin said some Russian supporters were turned back on arrival at Marseilles's international airport but that others had arrived overland.

Mark Roberts, the UK’s lead for football policing in the UK, said fans should be cautious ahead of England’s clash with Wales on Thursday.

He said: “It’s realistic to expect that the Russian fans will seek to try to behave in a similar way.

“The majority of Russia fans are no doubt decent folk, but there is a hardcore group of Russian fans who are willing to use extreme violence.

“They will be in Lille the night before and people should just bear that in mind."

European soccer's governing body, UEFA, said it was "disgusted" by the scuffles inside and outside the stadium in Marseilles and has threatened to throw the Russian and English teams out of the championship if the violence persists.

The news comes as England boss Roy Hodgson and Wayne Rooney sent football fans a message urging them to “stay out of trouble”.

Taking to Twitter, the Three Lions boss Hodgson said: “As England manager I am obviously very concerned about the threat which is hanging over us and the sanctions which could possibly be imposed on the England team.

“We worked very hard to get here and really desperately want to stay in the competition. 

"I am appealing therefore to all of our fans — and we appreciate your support at the matches of course — I'm appealing to you to stay out of trouble and to try and make certain that these threats that are being issued are never carried out and we are able to attempt to do the best we can and stay in the competition by football means.”

FA chairman Greg Dyke tonight said he has "serious concerns" about security ahead of the England v Wales Euro 2016 match on Thursday.

Mr Dyke has written to the governing body of European football to defend the role of English fans in the crowd trouble during Saturday's match with Russia.

In a letter in which he condemned the behaviour of certain England supporters on the streets of Marseille, he said: "The implication in your jointly-addressed letter is that English fans were in part responsible for the terrible incidents at the end of the match with Russia.

"This is contradicted both by the video evidence and by the fact your independent disciplinary bodies have only instigated sanctions against the Russian Football Union.

"We believe the stewarding arrangements in place were unacceptable. Supporters were able to get in with fireworks and flares, and then let them off, and there was insufficient segregation between the Russian and English fans, particularly given the events of the previous two days."

This evening England fans without tickets for the match in Lens were advised by the Foreign Office to stay away from the city.

A spokesman said: "Fans travelling to the Lens/Lille area for the England versus Wales match on June 16 should be aware that the match between Russia and Slovakia will take place in Lille on June 15 and large numbers of fans are expected to be in the city.

"Fans are advised to be cautious and those without tickets for the match should avoid Lille and Lens during this period."