Putin's party enlists football ultras for deadly operations in Ukraine – HUR

Russia's ruling party, United Russia, has intensified recruitment for the private military company "Espanola", which it seized in 2023, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (HUR) reported. Fighters in this PMC are promised a reward of 1 to 3 million rubles (about $11,000 to $33,000), depending on the severity of injuries, and their families are offered 5 million rubles (about $55,000) in the event of the recruit's death.

According to Wikipedia, "Espanola" is a "Russian military formation" created by radical fans of football clubs such as Zenit, Lokomotiv, Oryol, Spartak, Torpedo, CSKA, and others.

Ukrainian intelligence notes that "Espanola" consists of sympathizers of Nazi ideology and ordinary civilians from impoverished subjects of the Russian Federation and temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The latter is used in "cannon fodder" raids to establish the status of a "fighting unit".

This terrorist formation previously operated within the structure of the so-called "Vostok" battalion, served as a volunteer unit of Russian football hooligans, and was part of the so-called PMC "Redut" (its creation is attributed to the Russian GRU – ed).

Since 2023, "Espanola" has been under the control of Vladimir Putin's party, as the terrorist unit declared itself a so-called private military company, actively recruiting with funds from the United Russia party.

At the same time, the official page of "Espanola" on the Russian social network VKontakte claims that they are not involved in any propaganda or recruitment activities.

Potential fighters are offered 220,000 rubles (about $2,420) per month to take part in the war against Ukraine and are promised payments of 1 to 3 million rubles (about $11,000 to $33,000) in case of injury.

In addition, relatives of deceased "Espanola" members can allegedly receive up to 5 million rubles (about $55,000).

However, according to HUR, those among the recruited "Espanola" members who are killed or seriously injured are not returned from the battlefield and are reported as "missing in action.

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