Russians arrested after attack in Cologne
A group of Russian hooligans has been arrested in the German city of Cologne after they attacked Spanish tourists, local police have said.
On Thursday evening, five Russian hooligans travelling back from the European Championship in France were taken into custody after plainclothes officers witnessed an “extremely aggressive and brutal” assault on three Spanish tourists, Cologne police said in a media release.
The police statement added: “The hooligans hit and kicked the two Spaniards, and severely injured one of them.”
Local TV station WDR reported on its website that the injured man sustained a fractured nose. It said the other man sustained minor injuries, while a Spanish woman escaped unharmed.
According to WDR, the Spanish trio had been putting stickers with anti-fascist statements on a street light when they were attacked by the Russians, who were aged between 26 and 30. Police arrested five men, with a sixth person managing to escape.
The Russians had been on their way to Cologne airport, where they were set to board a flight to Moscow later on Thursday.
Police found tickets for Russia’s Euro 2016 opener against England last Saturday in their bags as well as train tickets indicating that they had been travelling from Marseille, where riots had left 35 injured at the weekend.
“What we don’t know is if they have been there [Marseille] or were deported prior to the incidents,” a police spokesperson said.
Police said that ZIS, a German police division for sports-related violence, will contact the French authorities as they seek to determine whether the Russians were involved in the Marseille riots.
