Russian oligarchs Arkady and Boris Rotenberg have decided to create a private army, similar to Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner Group, consisting of soccer hooligans, a local investigative site reported.
The Rotenberg brothers, childhood friends and close allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, were introduced to the Española battalion, a paramilitary group of far-right soccer fans, by Viktor Shendrik, the head of the security service of the Russian Railways, who sponsors the group.
"Española was created by fans, mostly of Spartak [soccer club]. Then the Rotenbergs came in with the idea of taking a PMC [private military company] under their own control," one source told Important Stories, an independent Russian publication. "A lot of major companies are creating their own private armies right now, and the brothers wanted to create their own private army on the basis of Española."
Russian companies and state agencies have financed dozens of pseudo-mercenary groups that are now fighting in Ukraine, reported Meduza, an independent Russian- and English-language news outlet. This includes the Uran battalion, which is supported by Russian state space corporation Roscosmos, and the Soyuz unit, which is funded by state-owned firms Sberbank and Rosatom.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry Intelligence Directorate has also said that Gazprom, a state-owned monopolist energy company in Russia, is working to develop a private military company. It said Gazprom's plans were inspired by the "example" set by the Wagner Group, a private military company founded by the late Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led a failed mutiny and march on Moscow before his death last summer.
The Rotenberg brothers placed Shendrik in charge of this new private army "because he had been working in their security service for a long time," the source told Important Stories.
Shendrik graduated from the Russian FSB's Golitsyno Border Institute and served in the security service's Vympel unit. He has held his position as head of the security service of the Russian Railways since 2016.
Española is formally part of Redut, a private military company controlled by the Russian Defense Ministry, Important Stories reported.
Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.
Former U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling warned in March 2023 that private military groups in Russia would "contribute to chaos" should Putin's government collapse.
Hertling made the remarks on X, formerly Twitter, while responding to Sergej Sumlenny, an expert on Eastern Europe, who posted: "Reports in Russian social media appear, that companies like Gazprom, Rosneft and other start their own private military companies."
"The Russian elites prepare for a scenario of military defeat of Russia and vacuum of power after that," Sumlenny added.
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur. Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war. Isabel ... Read more
