Aleksey Bugaev: Russian footballer’s spiralling story ends with death in Ukraine Once one of the most talented defenders in Russia, Bugaev opted to fight in war rather than serve long prison sentence.
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.
Faced with a severe shortage of soldiers for the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s Russia started recruiting convicted criminals from prisons.
Bugaev, however, played for Russia just seven times, never fulfilled potential and retired at the age of 29.
