Former Russian soccer player Aleksei Bugayev, 43, passes away while serving in Ukraine conflict.

Sadly, the news of Aleksei Bugayev's passing has been confirmed. He was a talented football player who represented Russia in the Euro 2004 tournament. At the age of 43, he lost his life while fighting in Ukraine. Aleksei had expressed his desire to fight for Vladimir Putin's forces after being sentenced to prison for drug trafficking in September. It is a known fact that Russian authorities have been recruiting from prisons during the ongoing conflict.

According to reports, Aleksei's father Ivan Bugayev confirmed the tragic news to the media, saying, "Unfortunately, the news about Aleksei's death is true. It happened today." His agent, Anton Smirnov, also shared that the intense fighting made it impossible to immediately retrieve Aleksei's body.

Aleksei had a successful career in football, playing for various clubs like Torpedo Moscow, Tom Tomsk, Lokomotiv Moscow, Khimki, and Krasnodar. He retired in 2010 at the age of 29. Despite his young age, he had already represented the national team seven times and even played in the Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal. He was a skilled centre-back and was a part of Russia's win over the eventual champions, Greece.

However, despite their victory, Russia failed to advance past the group stage, and Aleksei retired from international duty the following year. The tension between Russia and Ukraine escalated in February 2022, and England's Football Association announced that they would not play against Russia in any international fixtures as a form of solidarity with Ukraine and to condemn the actions of the Russian leadership.

In a recent press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he is open to the idea of peace talks with Ukraine, and Slovakia has offered to host the negotiations. "We are not opposed, if it comes to that. Why not? Because Slovakia holds a neutral position from our point of view," he said. However, he also mentioned that Russia has a new missile called Oreshnik, which they could use if necessary.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has criticized Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico for his seemingly friendly stance towards Russia. The news of Aleksei's death serves as a reminder of the ongoing conflict and the toll it has taken on both countries.

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