Russian Football "Hooligans" Unmasked (VIDEO)

The Orel Butchers squad members from Russian city Oryol who featured in a recent BBC documentary, "Russia's Hooligan Army," pulled off their masks to speak up publicly in an interview with RT which was released on June 19. 

They claimed that the documentary directors and producers assured them the aim was to show Russian football fans from their "better side," but eventually they portrayed Russia from a negative point of view.

Moreover, the Orel Butchers revealed they don't know the masked man, described as "the man who led them in France" who also appeared in the film. No one recognized his voice or the room where he was filmed. 

"We do not know who this person in the film is, but he has nothing to do with us," they said.

"Their aim was to show Russia bottom-up, the very bottom. The aim of this 'disproof film' was to ignite a war ahead of the 2018 World Cup," the Orel Butchers members added.

The 'Russia's Hooligan Army' documentary about Russian football fans was broadcast by BBC Two late on February 16. During his work on the film, its producer, Alex Stockley von Statzer, met with representatives of the Spartak Gladiators and Orel Butchers and filmed an organized fight for wannabe recruits in the woods, who were allegedly preparing for brawls and scuffles during the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The documentary is based on the events of the UEFA Euro 2016 Championship in France, when at least 30 people were injured in clashes between Russia and England fans after a football match in Marseille. During the tournament, 45 English supporters were arrested, as were 11 Northern Ireland fans and nine Wales fans.