Former Russian soccer player Bugayev killed in Ukraine conflict

Aleksei Bugayev, a former player of the Russian national soccer team, was killed in the conflict 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 (December 29 - 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 territory of the Russian Federation.

Aleksei Bugayev played as a central defender. He made his debut for the Russian national team on May 25, 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 wore the national team jersey seven times.

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