How a rip-off of Ukraine’s Zorya Luhansk are climbing Russia’s pyramid

In war-torn occupied territories, fake teams are being deployed as a tool to normalise a violent denial of the pastOn 12 April a new club played its first game in Russia’s football pyramid. A healthy enough crowd gathered at Novokolor Arena in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, 20 miles from the border with Ukraine’s occupied territories, encouraged by a slick buildup on social media. They watched “Zarya Luhansk” begin their slog through the Third League, the fifth tier of a