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England fans feared violence and even received warnings from the Home Office about travelling to the World Cup.

It came after a series of brutal brawls between Russian Ultras and England supporters in Marseille at Euro 2016.

But Putin has demanded there be no repeat of the violence on home soil – with the tournament so far going ahead peacefully.

Notorious gangs of Ultras have reportedly been banned from attending the games, been warned to stay away by cops, and even been placed under house arrest.

England will play their first game of the tournament tonight at 7pm in a clash with Tunisia in Volgograd.

Russian Ultras are being hounded by the security services to make sure they stay home during the World Cup.

Hooligans have moaned they can now get stadium bans for the “smallest things”.

Ultras at league games have been trying to hide their identities with scarves as police use facial recognition cameras to hunt down troublemakers.

Russia’s most violent fans are being blacklisted from the World Cup games, which now require “Fan ID” for you to enter stadiums.

(Image: GETTY) (Image: GETTY)

Kremlin officials have been clamping down on Russian fans with claims “hundreds” have been jailed leading up to the tournament.

And Putin’s security agents have reportedly been visiting Ultras and encouraging them to stay home.

Violence erupting in Marseille – despite being praised or made light of by some in the Russian government – appears to have become a sore point for Putin.

Vitaly Mutko, president of the Russian Football Union, has cut ties with the Neo-Nazi linked and Ultra-helmed All Russian Supporters Association (ARSA).

Putin’s old pal Alexander Shprygin, who was expelled from France during the Euros, has been banned from attending the World Cup.

He is the chief of ARSA, which was slammed by Mutko as “discrediting itself” and getting Russian football into “serious trouble”.

Shprygin claimed the hardest of the Ultras have been told to stay home and said trouble will not be tolerated by Putin.

He has also been banned from the World Cup as he was refused a Fan ID by the Kremlin.

(Image: GETTY)

Shprygin was reportedly flown into France with a posse of Ultras on a Kremlin-funded jet back in 2016.

He was kicked out of the country twice after Russia hooligans were involved in brutal running battles with England fans in Marselle.

The footie boss claimed there was a “repression” of the Ultras and said “[police] come to your home, they find you, they search your house, they call you for a ‘talk’”.

Russian Ultras are heavily linked to far right Ultra Nationalists, and England fans who are LGBT or ethnic minorities have been warned to stay safe.

World Cup officials have so far managed to avoid major trouble at the matches.

England are due to play Tunisia tonight amid fears of a repeat of the original Battle of Marseille back in 1998.

Riots erupted between the Three Lions and Tunisians fans with extreme violence and stabbings.

Russia’s anti-hooligan riot squads will be on standby ahead of the match.