Once one of the most talented defenders in Russia, Bugaev opted to fight in war rather than serve long prison sentence. Faced with a severe shortage of soldiers for the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s Russia started recruiting convicted criminals from prisons. A person can be immediately pardoned by the president just for agreeing to fight – and it does not matter how dangerous they are.
![[Aleksey Bugaev in action for Russia at Euro 2004]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b93ca593ffbe9f762773d5e8593d499d15977968/0_0_2007_3000/master/2007.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
The worst of murderers and rapists are able to get out and then hailed as national heroes by authorities. There are also criminals who have committed lesser crimes who are ready to gamble on their lives for freedom. Not all of them are lucky enough to come back from the war and tens of thousands of them have been killed already. It is an aspect of the war that has not received much attention because the dead are often not known to the general public. This week, however, there was an exception that highlighted the controversial scheme.
Aleksey Bugaev was once considered one of them most promising defenders in the country and he started twice for Russia at Euro 2004. Vitaliy Shevchenko, the coach who gave Bugaev his first-team debut at Torpedo Moscow in 2001, recalled in a Sport Express interview: “Aleksey could play at centre-back and left-back equally well. He was tough, won a lot of balls, and was capable of executing quality passes with just one touch to start attacks. He was more talented than Sergey Ignashevich.”.
Ignashevich enjoyed an outstanding career, becoming an icon for CSKA Moscow and Russia’s most capped player. Bugaev, however, played for Russia just seven times, never fulfilled potential and retired at the age of 29. He could have developed into a major star but for a self-destructive lifestyle and an alcohol addiction. Last year he was given a nine-and-a-half-year prison sentence for drug distribution.
