TWO Russian thugs who left a British man paralysed after an alleged attack at the Euro 2016 tournament go on trial today.
Mikhail Ivkine, 34, and Pavel Kosov, 33, face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty of the brutal assault on Andrew Bache.
He was caught up in sickening scenes of violence as mindless Russian thugs attacked Three Lions fans in the French port city of Marseilles which left dozens injured.
Former delivery driver Andrew, 55, was hit over the head with an iron bar and left paralysed and has needed round the clock care ever since the incident in June 2016.
Horrific images of the attack captured by police on video will be shown as part of the trial.
Following the arrests of Ivkine and Kosov, his family received threats from supporters of the two.
The two thugs, both from Moscow, do not contest hitting the victim, but they claim they were provoked by English supporters. They also claim they were not to blame for the extent of his injuries and lawyers for the men say they were acting in self defence.
The pair have been held in custody since 2018 after being tracked on social media by a joint French and British investigation. Kosov was arrested in Cologne and Ivkine in Munich in February 2018 on their way to attend a match in Spain between Spartak Moscow and Athletic Bilbao.
The trial will take place in Aix en Provence and is expected to last all week.
Last night Andrew's lawyer Oliver Rosato told the The Sun: "This is about getting justice for my client.
"His quality of life has been severely affected. The two men arrested were there to kill while my client was just there for his passions of the pub, barbeques and football."
Andrew from Portsmouth is not expected to attend the trial and his testimony will be relayed via statements.
Another England fan Stewart Gray, from Leicestershire, was also left in a coma following the violence.
Russian president Vladimir Putin laughed off the incidents and said: ''I don’t know how 200 fans could hurt several thousand Englishmen.”
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