Euro 2016 Violence: Moscow Summons French Ambassador, France To Deport Russian Fans

UPDATE: 6:30 a.m. EDT -- France will deport Alexander Shprygin, the far-right leader of the Russian football supporters' association, following clashes between Russian and British fans after the England-Russia Euro 2016 game in Marseille Saturday.

Shprygin, whose association is backed by the Kremlin, is among 20 Russian fans being deported. The fans were reportedly detained Tuesday while travelling from Marseille to Lille to watch Russia face Slovakia. Russia lost the game 1-2.

Shprygin is a former assistant to Igor Lebedev, a lawmaker and soccer official who publicly backed Russians involved in Saturday's violence in Marseille.

Meanwhile, France’s interior ministry said Thursday that local police have made 323 arrests since the start of Euro 2016.

"Of these arrests, 196 were taken into custody, eight convicted to jail terms and three given suspended sentences," the ministry said, in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse.

Original story:

Russia summoned French ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert Wednesday over detentions of its citizens at Euro 2016 and warned that the increase of "anti-Russian" mood could damage relations between Russia and France.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly accused football fans from other countries of "absolutely provocative actions" at the tournament, such as trampling on the Russian flag, adding that "further fanning of anti-Russian sentiments" could increase tensions between the two nations. Both Russia and England have been threatened with disqualification after fans clashed for three days in Marseille over the weekend. About 150 Russians attacked English supporters in Marseille’s streets, while the violence continued inside Stade Velodrome during and after the two teams reached a 1-1 result.

Clashes between police and football fans also erupted in the northern city of Lille, where four Russian fans were arrested and were to be deported after being detained Wednesday.

"Two of the Russians were arrested yesterday evening during a fight in Lille and two after being found drunk in a car with weapons," a representative at the Lille prefecture said, according to Reuters.

On Wednesday, French police arrested 43 Russian fans aboard a bus in the Alpes-Maritimes region on suspicions of participating in the violence.

The French embassy in Moscow said on its website that, according to the ambassador, the arrests had been carried out "absolutely according to the law, in full transparency vis-a-vis the Russian authorities."

"Fans from a number of countries took part in unacceptable violence in Marseille," Ripert said during the meeting. "The French government remained determined, together with UEFA, to stop troublemakers from ruining the party that is the Euro."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault later said: "Whatever their nationality, Russian, French, British or German, visitors are coming to France to celebrate football. That stands for Russians and British citizens and the French justice deals with them in the same manner."