This is the shocking moment a mass brawl broke out at an ice hockey match in Russia, with some players arrested for ‘hooliganism’.
A team-wide battle broke out between a team known as ‘Tough Guy’ and a team of players from the Federal Security Service (FSB).
Fights are common in ice hockey, but after this match the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet Union’s KGB, reportedly ordered the arrest of the opponents.
Five of the players were immediately arrested and charged with ‘hooliganism’, which carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years, according to a Telegram channel.
The decision has proven controversial in Russia and has divided sports fans and supporters of the security services over whether the hockey players should have been detained.
The video shows that a team-wide battle broke out between a team known as ‘Tough Guy’ and a team of players from the Federal Security Service (FSB).
Fights are common in ice hockey, but after this match the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet Union’s KGB, reportedly ordered the arrest of the opponents.
The fight, which took place in Russia’s far east in March, involved all 12 players punching and wrestling on the ice.
The fight, which took place in Russia’s far east in March, involved all 12 players punching each other and wrestling on the ice.
As an FSB attacker and the opposition defender wrestled each other to the ground, fights between individuals broke out as other Tough Guy players began throwing punches at the opposition team.
The rink where the match was played was packed with spectators watching as the Tough Guys appeared to gain the upper hand over the FSB team.
During the chaotic video, the referees were completely overwhelmed and unable to stop the fights even when taken to the ground.
In professional ice hockey, fights are allowed, but are stopped by the referees when a player lands on the ice for safety.
Throughout the video we see players hitting each other on the head even though their opponents are on the ground.
The players also did not remove their gloves before the fight, as would be customary in professional ice hockey matches.
Baza, a Telegram channel with close ties to Russian security services, shared the video, adding that the Tough Guys team was also disqualified from the tournament.
Throughout the video we see players hitting each other on the head even though their opponents are on the ground
Before Putin came to power, he was an officer in the KGB, the predecessor of the FSB. Pictured: in uniform, circa 1980
Vladimir Putin was appointed director of the FSB by Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1998
Last week, two more Tough Guy players were arrested and ordered to surrender their passports after a judge deemed them a “flight risk” ahead of their trial.
Newsbox24, a Russian Telegram news channel, said the arrests were absurd after a “standard” ice hockey fight.
It read: ‘If you enter the rink against an FSB or police team, should you also prepare for prison if you win?’
A comment under the Newsbox24 post said the FSB team had been “humiliated” and had behaved like cowards by allegedly ordering their arrest.
However, three-time Olympic cross-country skiing champion Yulia Chepalova said the Tough Guy players should be ashamed of their fight with the FSB but that the criminal charges went too far.
The FSB still wields significant power across Russia and occupies the former KGB headquarters on Lubyanka Square in central Moscow.
Vladimir Putin was appointed director of the organization by Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1998.
As president, Putin has expanded the FSB’s powers, including countering foreign intelligence operations, combating organized crime and suppressing Chechen separatists.
When former KGB officer Vladimir Putin became president of Russia in late 1999, he quickly installed his fellow ex-KGB comrades in all areas of Russian life.
The former KGB agents installed by Putin – known as the ‘siloviki’ (strongmen) – still control many key ministries, law enforcement agencies and state-owned enterprises.
