Youth Hockey Fight In Russia Goes On For Minutes (VIDEO)

WATCH: Out-Of-Control Youth Hockey Brawl

While brawls on the ice can happen at many levels, the duration and intensity of this youth hockey fight in Russia are remarkable.

Punches -- and players -- fly from one end of the rink to the other, while the referees appear to give up trying to take control of the melee. Only when adults appear from behind the plexiglass does the free-for-all end. And that takes minutes.

Video of the brutal youth hockey fight has gone viral since being posted on YouTube May 12.

However, the clip hasn't produced as much outrage as one might think. Many of the comments on the YouTube page excused the kid-on-kid donnybrook as merely part of the game.

"This is not violence but simply a fight between boys," one user wrote in Russian, according to a Huffington Post translation of the comment. "If my son had been involved, I would not have intervened."

The user added that fighting was necessary "to defend the honor of the team."

Even some of the critical responses were tame.

"So young and already such boors," another user wrote in Russian.

But American sports outlets had a different opinion.

"If you ever needed proof that spectacular mindless violence transcends any and all language barriers, this is it," the Big Lead wrote.

Deadspin, meanwhile, was rendered temporarily speechless by the spectacle.

Grownups haven't helped youth hockey's reputation lately either. A Canadian coach who tripped a player in the handshake line got sentenced to 15 days in jail in February.

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