Ex‑Russian footballer Aleksei Bugayev killed in Ukrainian war

Aleksei Bugayev, a former player for the Russian national football team, was killed in the war in Ukraine. Ivan Bugayev, the player's father, quoted by the Sport24 service and the TASS agency, said: "Unfortunately, the reports about Aleksei's death are true. It happened today (29 December - editor's note)" - we read.

The athlete's agent, Anton Smirnov, also confirmed the reports. In an interview with the RIA agency, he stated that due to the ongoing fighting on the front in Ukraine, it is currently impossible to transport the player's body to the Russian Federation.

Aleksei Bugayev played as a central defender. He made his debut for the Russian national team on 25 May 2004. It was a friendly match against Austria, which ended in a 0-0 draw. The then coach of the Russians, Georgij Yartsev, decided to call him up for the 2004 European Championship squad, held in Portugal.

There, he played in two matches: losing 0-2 against the host nation, and winning 2-1 against Greece, the eventual winners of the championship. His last appearance for the national team was in 2005. He donned the national team jersey seven times.

In his career, he played exclusively for Russian clubs. He was trained at Torpedo Moscow, but played the most matches, nearly 100, for Tom Tomsk, representing them twice from 2001-2002 and 2006-2008. Additionally, he played for Lokomotiv Moscow, FC Khimki, and FC Krasnodar. He ended his career in 2010.

In September 2023, Bugayev was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for drug smuggling. To avoid the sentence, he enlisted in the army, taking advantage of the option for prisoner recruitment for the war that has been ongoing since February 2022.