In one of the more bizarre videos to go viral in recent days, two gangs of Russian football fans have been filmed beating each other bloody in a mass brawl before sportingly ending the fight with hugs and handshakes.
The four-minute clip, which has been viewed almost 40,000 times since it was posted Sunday to YouTube, shows fans from Chelyabinsk and Yekaterinburg — supporters of Moscow-based teams Spartak and Dynamo, respectively — meeting on a deserted highway for a fight.
The Chelyabinsk team, dressed in white, and the Yekaterinburg team, in black, both sported 38 fans, Russian media reported.
With the mass fight set to start, several amateur cameramen are seen standing nearby as members of the two gangs launch themselves as one another, hitting each other with their hands as well as feet.
One particularly violent moment shows a Yekaterinburg fan dressed in grey sweatpants punching a Chelyabinsk fan as he lies on the floor. Blood is shown pooling around the victim's face, though his attacker does not relent and continues the assault by kicking the man in the head several times.
Another standout moment shows a Yekaterinburg fan slamming himself down onto a Chelyabinsk fan, in a move more closely associated with the world of wrestling.
As the clip progresses, bodies — primarily those of Chelyabinsk fans — are seen lying in the snow-covered road as well as in nearby ditches. The fight then draws to an end with the cameraman declaring "that is all," to the delight of Yekaterinburg's fans who start chanting.
The victors are then sportingly seen going around their victims — helping them to their feet and even offering manly hugs. One fighter is heard saying: "Thank you for the fight."
According to one of the participants of the brawl, Denis Tsarev, the fight was preplanned and the gangs are hoping to stage an even bloodier fight next time.
"We fight before every game between Spartak and Dynamo, we support our teams. This was not a very serious fight, next time we will fight until we are even more bloody," he told news site Znak.ru.
Warning: This video contains scenes that some viewers may find distressing as well as Russian profanity.
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