A video of a group of OMON special police force ploughing through a crowd of peaceful FС Spartak football fans has received a lot of public attention in Russia. The incident happened after a match of the Russian Football Championship between Spartak Moscow and Rostov (2:2). The match took place on July 20 in Rostov-on-Don.
CCTV cameras installed in the under-strand room of the Rostov Arena showed a group of OMON fighters ploughing through a crowd of Moscow football fans from the back, knocking people down, kicking and beating people around.
After the end of the game, Moscow fans could not leave the stadium for a long time and were blocked by security officers in the under-stands. It was reported that some of the fans tried to break through the cordon, but police officers used rubber batons in response.
Rostov region Governor Vasily Golubev said that the police were acting tactfully, within permissible limits. According to him, law enforcement officers were doing their common job.
Spartak condemned the actions of law enforcement officials and urged the Russian Premier League to look into the situation. The football club also appealed to the Office of the Prosecutor General with a request to investigate the incident in Rostov-on-Don.