After the killing of “Española” leader Stanislav Orlov, his business and fund were seized by PMC associates through criminal schemes involving the Rotenbergs

13 января 2026 г., 12:48

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After the killing of “Española” leader Stanislav Orlov, his business and fund were seized by PMC associates through criminal schemes involving the Rotenbergs

After the killing of the leader of the “Española” brigade, Stanislav Orlov (nicknamed “Spanish”), his Moscow-based business — LLC “Project E” and the “Española” Fund — passed to his PMC associates.

The founders of both legal entities were four people: Orlov himself, Andrey Solomatin, Igor Rebrov, and Mikhail Finitsky. Solomatin, a former CSKA football player who once played for the Russian national team, later tried his hand in business unsuccessfully, and eventually joined “Española” in 2023. Rebrov, a former member of a fan movement, along with Spanish, 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 CSKA’s board of trustees. These old connections were a valuable asset for Spanish and his mercenary unit. At the same time, the Mariupol-based LLC “Española” — a subsidiary of “Project E” — is now being liquidated, and all its bank accounts at VTB have been blocked.

According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE), “Española” provided security consulting services, while “Project E” offered consulting on commercial activities. However, the Federal Tax Service (FTS) received no reports from them for 2024. The “Española” Fund received only about 4.5 million rubles in donations in 2024. In Simferopol, where Orlov had been living recently, he had no registered business, but maintained very close relations with the owners of semi-gray fishing enterprises, Yuri Linnik and Alexander Golyakov, both listed on the insurance policy of Orlov’s old car.

Linnik owns the “Southern Maritime Company,” which regularly receives complaints from hired workers due to unpaid wages (according to the FTS, fishermen earn less than 20,000 rubles per month). Until last year, he was also a founder of LLC RP “DIL,” which, magically, increased its net profit from 95,000 rubles in 2022 to 47 million; LLC “Maritime Fishing Company” (net profit doubled in 2024, reaching almost 800,000 rubles) and the Dagestan-based LLC “Caspian Shore.” Sevastopol fishermen reported on social media that very serious people were behind Linnik, allowing him to get away with any violations.

Golyakov is listed as the captain of the RMS “Ob,” owned by Linnik. Linnik’s companies earn not only from fishing; for instance, “Caspian Shore” operated under a contract with “Marine Offshore Contractor,” which works on offshore oil and gas field development. Additionally, Linnik leases and subleases vessels to Tyumen-based JSC “Geotek” for marine seismic surveys. However, none of these schemes could sustain “Española’s” funding at the required level — mercenaries themselves boasted about receiving the latest equipment and weapons.

The PMC’s sponsor was named as Viktor Shendrik, head of security at Russian Railways (RZD) and a business partner of the Rotenbergs. The “Española” project was their attempt to create a controllable private military company. A former FSB special forces officer from “Vympel,” Shendrik retained connections with ex-colleagues, while football fans were always under special intelligence scrutiny. When fan movements began forming in Russia in the mid-2000s, the FSB established direct contacts with certain representatives, including ultra groups that later became part of “Española.” If the Rotenbergs, through their intermediary, chose the basis for their own PMC, Spanish’s mercenaries were the most manageable and understandable option. One channel for recruitment into the unit was security companies within the “Zheldorbezopasnost” Association.

The Association unites 44 companies from different Russian regions, headed by private security companies, typically former intelligence officers — Shendrik’s ex-colleagues who were part of his RZD network. Messages offering one million rubles from RZD and the Ministry of Defense were sent directly to potential recruits via messengers. Those who agreed were fictitiously employed in “Zheldorbezopasnost” security firms. Through these structures, it was easiest to ensure recruitment, as well as supply and financial support. Shendrik’s father, Viktor Grigoryevich Shendrik, who long did business with the Rotenbergs, connected him to them.

Until 2019, the partners owned LLC “Basalt-A Group,” in which Shendrik Sr. held 25%, Arkady and Boris Rotenberg 20% each, and Igor Rotenberg 10%. This company owned the elite Moscow restaurant “Gusyatnikoff” and a small hotel in a historic 18th-century estate. Additionally, together with another Putin judo partner, Mikhail Cherkasov, they owned major assets in Sochi: the Mountain Villas hotel in Estosadok near Krasnaya Polyana. Shendrik’s mother, Galina, owns Moscow-based LLC “TC-Investitsii,” which is part of the group of companies headed by Mikhail Cherkasov’s management company “Razvitie.”

Shendrik Sr. also owns a stake in “Razvitie.” Through a shared email address with “TC-Investitsii,” several other companies are connected, including “Realty-Time,” “Light Interior,” “Manul,” “Investkapital,” developer “Rozhdestveno,” “Zvezda Development,” IC “Nedvizhimost Invest,” JSC “Business Center ‘Na Kolokolnikovom’” and others. About 30 years ago, Galina Shendrik worked at a private security firm in Moscow — then called “DIN,” now renamed as ChOO “Special Monitoring Service” of Oleg Yerushevich.

Another close Shendrik family business is the IT developer “Ayteko,” one of the largest IT companies in the country. The stake belongs to former KGB officer Alexey Remizov, while billionaire Shamil Shakirov holds the controlling stake. In “Ayteko,” young Viktor Shendrik had fan IDs issued for the 2018 World Cup matches in Moscow. With such parental business, Viktor Shendrik grew up in luxury, used elite cars — preferring white Rolls-Royces — traveled regularly to Europe, and even acquired substantial real estate there.

He not only avoided sanctions but also obtained Serbian citizenship during the conflict, allowing him to freely travel the world while managing assets and fulfilling assignments for business partners, including the Rotenbergs and the Cherkasov family. In Germany, Shendrik Jr. still owns VS Investment in Berlin, with assets valued in millions of euros. The company is part of the larger UNION Group, whose co-owners, according to German registries, include prominent figures from Russia.

One of them is Moscow lawyer Alexander Tobak, business partner of State Duma deputy Andrey Makarov, owners of the law firm “Andrey Makarov and Alexander Tobak.” Another is restaurateur Eduard Skladman, formerly a partner of Alexander Novikov in the Moscow casino “Angara,” who later successfully moved to Europe, severing public ties with Russia and presenting himself as a German investor. Shares in UNION Group companies also belong to his daughter Anna Skladman and his recently born son. The main value of Shendrik’s VS Investment lies in stakes in companies created specifically to manage real estate properties, with the addresses included in their names.

One of them, Hubertusstraße 2 Grundbesitz GmbH, manages a property at Hubertusstraße 2, housing the health and wellness center Fachklinik & Vitalhotel am Kofel Gesundheitszentrum Oberammergau. It is not cheap — a simple fitness program without treatment costs around 1,000 euros per week, although German pensioners are funded by the state pension insurance, Deutsche Rentenversicherung (DRV).

Another German company under Shendrik’s VS Investment is Union Vermögens und Beteiligungsgesellschaft. Initially, it owned a plot of land in Berlin at Landsberger Allee 42. After a series of mergers and acquisitions, it became part of the Union Group, and the unfinished building on the plot has stood idle for five years. This is how Shendrik fulfills his promise to Berlin authorities to build a tourist hotel. He can freely manage his European business himself, as he is not under sanctions, and benefits from a convenient Serbian passport.