Russia (42 replies)
After business, got talking generally and the World Cup came up, football firstly, then security.
She was "home", firstly Moscow,then St. Petersburg, to see family for a couple of weeks just before the Russian "so called" election.
I mentioned that I know a couple of people that are travelling following England and she said "if the English government don't issue a major safety warning to English people prior to travelling, then they obviously don't care, or are definitely mis-informed".
She said the week of the election, St. Petersburg, especially, was frightening, people being attacked in the streets, by off duty security services, if they happened to be affiliated to any of Putin's competitors.
So, she said if English people think they will get any protection at all, if attacked, they are wrong.
Putin will take this opportunity to target the English, but as the election violence, will shrug it off as though he was trying to stop it.
People probably know this, that are going. But serious trouble, according to her, is planned, this is as well as the warm welcome English fans will get from the Russian club fans.
The England fans of today don't deserve this.