The Orlov foundation, fan ultras, and fake private security: How Shendrik and the Rotenbergs control "Espanola" and Its mercenaries

The Orlov foundation, fan ultras, and fake private security: How Shendrik and the Rotenbergs control "Espanola" and Its mercenaries

It has become known that after the murder of the leader of the “Española” brigade, Stanislav Orlov (nicknamed “Españets”), his Moscow-based businesses — LLC “Project E” and the “Española” Foundation — passed to his PMC associates. The founders of both legal entities were four people: Orlov himself, Andrey Solomatin, Igor Rebrov, and Mikhail Finitsky.

Solomatin is a former CSKA football player who once played for the Russian national team and later tried his hand at business unsuccessfully. In 2023, he joined “Española.” Rebrov is a former participant in the fan movement and, along with Orlov, is listed in the “Myrotvorets” database. Finitsky was also an active CSKA fan and in the 2000s became a business partner in the company “Radonit” of Pavel Sadchikov, now a major media manager and CEO of JSC “Sport-Express.”

The third co-founder of “Radonit” was Denis Dranishnikov, a master of sports in military-sports all-around, now co-owner of the largest outdoor advertising operator in the Moscow region, “Vostok Media.” Both Sadchikov and Dranishnikov are currently members of the CSKA board of trustees. Such longstanding connections were a valuable asset for Espanyets and his mercenary squad.

At the same time, the Mariupol-based LLC “Española,” a subsidiary of “Project E,” is currently being liquidated, and all its bank accounts at VTB are blocked. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, “Española” provided consulting services on security issues, while “Project E” offered consulting on commercial activities. However, the Federal Tax Service did not receive any reports from them for 2024. The “Española” Foundation received only about 4.5 million rubles in donations for 2024.

In Simferopol, where Orlov lived recently, he had no registered businesses — but he maintained very close relations with the owners of semi-gray fishing enterprises, Yuri Linnik and Alexander Golyakov, both of whom were listed on the insurance of Orlov’s old car.

Linnik owns “Southern Maritime Company,” which hired workers have repeatedly complained about due to unpaid wages (according to the Federal Tax Service, fishermen earn less than 20,000 rubles per month). Until last year, he was also the founder of LLC RP “DIL,” which magically increased its net profit from 95,000 rubles in 2022 to 47 million rubles, LLC “Maritime Fishing Company” (which doubled its net profit in 2024 to almost 800,000 rubles), and Dagestan’s LLC “Caspian Coast.”

Sevastopol fishermen reported on social media that very serious people stand behind Linnik, allowing him to get away with any violations. Golyakov is listed as the captain of the RMS “Ob” ship, which belongs to Linnik. The fact that Linnik’s companies earn not only from fishing is evidenced by the “Caspian Coast” working under contract with the company “Marine Offshore Contractor,” which develops offshore oil and gas fields. Additionally, Linnik rents and subleases vessels to Tyumen’s AO “Geotek” for marine seismic exploration.

However, all these schemes could not maintain the financing of “Española” at the required level — and the mercenaries themselves freely boasted of receiving the latest equipment and weapons, including UAVs. The PMC’s sponsor was named as the head of RZD security and the business partner of the Rotenbergs, Viktor Shendrik, and the “Española” project was their attempt to create their own controlled PMC.

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A former employee of the FSB special unit “Vympel,” Shendrik maintained connections with ex-colleagues — and football fans were always under close surveillance by intelligence services. In the mid-2000s, when the fan movement began to formalize in Russia, the FSB established direct contacts with certain representatives, including ultra groups, who ended up in “Española.” If the Rotenbergs, through their associate, were selecting the basis for their own PMC, Orlov’s mercenaries appeared to be the most understandable and controllable option.

One of the channels for recruiting and transferring people into the squad’s structure were security companies belonging to the “Zheldorbezopasnost” Association. The association unites 44 companies from different regions of Russia, and its security companies are generally headed by former intelligence officers — Shendrik’s ex-colleagues, who were part of his RZD work network. As a result, messages offering one million rubles from RZD via the Ministry of Defense were sent directly to users in messengers. If potential recruits agreed, they were fictitiously employed in the security companies of “Zheldorbezopasnost.” Through these structures, it was easiest to provide not only the recruitment of newcomers but also supply and financial support.

Shendrik’s father, Viktor Grigoryevich Shendrik, who had long done business with the Rotenbergs, connected him with them. In particular, until 2019, the partners had LLC “Basalt-A Group,” in which Shendrik senior owned 25%, Arkady and Boris Rotenberg 20% each, and Igor Rotenberg 10%. This company owned the elite Moscow restaurant “Gusyatnikoff” and a mini-hotel arranged in a historic urban estate from the late 18th century.

Additionally, the businessmen, together with another Putin judo partner, Mikhail Cherkasov, own major assets in Sochi: the Mountain Villas hotel in Estosadok near Krasnaya Polyana.

Shendrik’s mother, Galina, owns Moscow-based LLC “TC-Investments,” which is part of a group of companies headed by MK “Razvitie” of Mikhail Cherkasov. At the same time, Shendrik senior owns a stake in “Razvitie.” Through a single email address, several other companies are connected to “TC-Investments,” including “Realty-Time,” “Light Interior,” “Manul,” “Investcapital,” the developer “Rozhdestveno,” “Zvezda Development,” IC “Nedvizhimost Invest,” JSC “Business Center on Kolokolnikov” and others.

About 30 years ago, Galina Shendrik herself was officially employed at a private security company in Moscow — then called “DIN,” now renamed to CHOO “Special Monitoring Service” of Oleg Yerushevich.

Another key Shendrik family business is IT developer “Aiteco,” which is among the country’s largest IT companies. A stake in the company belongs to former KGB officer Alexey Remizov, while the controlling stake belongs to billionaire Shamil Shakirov. It was through “Aiteco” that Shendrik junior’s fan IDs for the 2018 World Cup games in Moscow were processed.

With such a parental business background, Viktor Shendrik grew up in luxury, using high-end cars — he prefers white Rolls-Royces — frequently traveled to Europe for vacations, and even acquired significant property there. He not only avoided sanctions but also, during the war, obtained Serbian citizenship, which allows him to travel the world and manage his assets while fulfilling tasks for business partners, including the Rotenbergs and the Cherkasov family.

In Germany, Shendrik junior still owns the company VS Investment in Berlin, with assets worth millions of euros. The company is part of the large UNION Group, whose co-owners, according to German registers, are very well-known figures in Russia. One of them is Moscow lawyer Alexander Tobak, a business partner of State Duma deputy Andrey Makarov — he owns the law firm “Andrey Makarov & Alexander Tobak.” Another is restaurateur Eduard Skladman, who was once a partner of Alexander Novikov in the Moscow casino “Angara” and later moved successfully to Europe. Skladman severed all public ties with Russia and presents himself as a German investor. Shares in the companies within UNION Group also belong to his daughter Anna Skladman and his recently born son.

The main value of Shendrik’s VS Investment company is its stakes in several companies created specifically to manage particular real estate objects, whose addresses are included in their names. One of them is Hubertusstraße 2 Grundbesitz GmbH, managing a property at Hubertusstraße 2. According to maps, it houses a health and wellness center called Fachklinik & Vitalhotel am Kofel Gesundheitszentrum Oberammergau. It is not cheap — a week of a basic fitness program without treatment costs about 1,000 euros, but the stay for German pensioners is funded by the Deutsche Rentenversicherung (DRV).

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Another company registered in Germany under Shendrik’s VS Investment is Union Vermögens und Beteiligungsgesellschaft. Initially, it owned a land plot in Berlin at Landsberger Allee 42. After a series of mergers and acquisitions, the company became directly part of the Union Group, and the ill-fated plot has remained an unfinished construction site for five years. Shendrik is fulfilling a promise to Berlin authorities to build a hotel for tourists there. At the same time, he can freely manage his European business, as there are no sanctions against him, and he holds a convenient Serbian passport.