The Ukrainian football ultras fighting Putin: Inside the elite ‘Kraken’ unit who have become Russia’s nightmare
Before Russia invaded Ukraine they were a collection of football ultras, right-wing agitators, and veterans of the notorious Azov Battalion.
Now, they are crack soldiers and part of one of Ukraine’s best fighting units called Kraken.
Putin’s propagandists call them Neo-Nazis, and they have faced accusations of harbouring far-right fanatics and war crimes – all of which they deny.
But to ordinary citizens this controverisal unit are simply the Defenders of Kharkiv who spearheaded Ukraine’s stunning counter-attack out of the city last year.
This is the story of Kraken’s rise from obscurity to become one of the country’s best-known fighting units.
Watch the video here:
