“Espanola,” a Russian volunteer brigade in Ukraine consisting of football fanatics, has officially announced its dissolution.
The group, also known as the 88th Reconnaissance and Sabotage Brigade of the 1st Volunteer Corps of the Russian Armed Forces, referred to the dissolution as a “complete reboot” of the group.
“Today we are announcing a complete reboot of Espanola. The 88th Brigade – in the form, shape, and composition with which it entered Klishchiivka in 2023 and took Chasov Yar [sic] in 2024-25, along with its neighbors – ceases to exist,” the group wrote in its update on Thursday.
As of Oct. 3, control over Chasiv Yar remains contested despite Espanola’s claims, according to the open-source battlefield map DeepState UA – while Russian troops have broken through the town’s railway line compared to earlier reports in July this year, parts of it remain under Ukrainian control.
As the Russian independent outlet Astra noted, the group has branded civilians in Ukraine as legitimate targets via unsubstantiated claims in April this year.
“The truly peaceful population of Ukraine can hardly be separated from the military and terrorists,” the group wrote in its Telegram update.
“Numerous terrorist attacks on Russian territory and in the combat zone; persistent terror and intimidation of Russian citizens online; telephone fraud carried out from Ukrainian territory – all this clearly demonstrates that the war against our population involves not only combatants but also so-called ‘civilians,’” it added.
What is the ‘Espanola’?
The Espanola brigade, established in 2022, was a Russian volunteer unit of far-right football hooligans fighting in Ukraine, known for extremist ideology and brutality.
An article by the Global Network on Extremism and Technology described the group as a “highly public portion of Russia’s fighting force and a wartime propaganda output,” adding that the group likely has 550 active personnel as of August 2024, citing the group’s claims.
Astra, in another update that cited research by opposition outlet Cherta, noted Nazi symbols seen on many of the group’s members.
“One of the Espanyol fighters has tattoos associated with Nazi symbols. In a conversation with Cherta, he openly identified himself as a nationalist and justified the use of swastikas and Kolovrats among volunteers in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR),” Astra wrote, referring to Ukraine’s Donetsk region using the occupied region’s self-proclaimed title.
Kolovrats is a wheel symbol frequently attributed to Slavic paganism and is considered a variant of the swastika.
“A football hooligan nicknamed ‘Pitbull,’ who was previously fined for displaying Nazi symbols, has recently joined Espanola,” it added.
The brigade’s official number, 88, is also likely a far-right Nazi symbol representing the initials of “Heil Hitler,” with H being the eighth letter of the alphabet.
Radio Liberty, in its Sept. 25 report, also noted similar findings regarding the group’s nationalist ideology.
Whether the group is considered a mercenary group is less clear, however.
A March 2024 report by The Jamestown Foundation classifies the group as a private military company (PMC), similar to the Wagner PMC that infamously rebelled against Moscow in 2023.
However, Radio Liberty noted that the Espanola is part of the Volunteer Corps (as the brigade’s official name suggests), which it said is a “loose-knit, shadowy web of unofficial militias” with ties to each other – and to Russia’s Military Intelligence (GRU).
The Volunteer Corps appears to be Russia’s attempt to formalize the activities of PMCs to augment its forces in Ukraine, as Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin does not recognize private military companies as legitimate, insisting they do not exist due to the lack of legal regulation.