“The Spaniard didn’t even fire back”

Where, howand by who the leader of Española was killed.
Video from cameras and eyewitness accounts

In Moscow, at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, on December 22, a farewell is being held for Stanislav Orlov (“The Spaniard”), the former leader of the far-right Española Brigade, who has already been compared to Prigozhin, Motorola, and other well-known commanders who took part in the war with Ukraine. He was 44 years old.

Until now, it was not known for certain how he died, where, or under what circumstances. Since the 10th of December, there have been only unconfirmed rumors about the disappearance of the “Spaniard” in the Z-community, and the cause of death has not yet been revealed even by Española itself.

ASTRA found out that a brigade made up of football fans had set up a “base” in annexed Sevastopol, having bought several plots ofland on the outskirts there. It was on one of them that Stanislav Orlov’s “dacha” stood. On December 4, 2025, armed men in camouflage with machine guns broke into the house of “Spaniard” and shot him. The eyewitnesses ASTRA spoke to claim that the ex-commander did not even shoot back. We have obtained videos from the cameras that captured the killers. Read the new ASTRA text to find out how one of the most notorious murders in the Z-community took place.

The death of the “Spaniard”

Neighborhood “Flotsky” is a quiet place in Sevastopol. The nearest Black Sea coast is about 3-5 kilometers away. The garden community rarely makes it into the news, but on December 4, 2025, the residents of “Flotsky” were in an uproar. They were discussing the shocking news of a shooting at 51 Flotsky Street.

“A bunch of cars, gunshots. Then an ambulance arrived,” one of the residents of the SNT described the events of that day to ASTRA.

Stanislav Orlov lived in house number 51. According to former colleagues of the Spaniard, he spent a lot of time at his dacha in Flotskiy in recent years. His friends also purchased several plots of land there.

ASTRA obtained footage from CCTV cameras, where the former commander of Española was shot and killed in his dacha. The footage was provided by a source in the emergency services of annexed Crimea who is involved in the investigation of Orlov’s death.

According to the video footage obtained by ASTRA, on December 4, at 12:17 p.m. local time, four vehicles arrived at house number 51 in the Flotskiy: a black SUV with no license plates, a UAZ, a car, and a minibus with license plates on a black background that could not be clearly identified due to the quality of the video (the codes on the black license plates indicate the military district or type of troops). Men with assault rifles and wearing masks emerged from the vehicles. Neighbors heard several gunshots.

It was not until six hours later, at 6:36 p.m., that an ambulance arrived at the house of the “Spaniard,” according to video footage. Residents reported that the ambulance arrived without flashing lights or any other audible signals, and the officers removed Stanislav’s body from the house before departing from the community at 6:45 p.m. The law enforcement officers remained on the premises for a search. At the time of publication, it is still unclear which agency they belong to.

Witnesses told ASTRA that Orlov allegedly did not fire back. People with machine guns entered the house and immediately opened fire. “The Spaniard didn’t even fire back,” says one of the witnesses.

According to him, he was already dead by the time the ambulance arrived. The editorial office has not yet been able to independently confirm or deny this information. The video footage from the cameras does not have sound.

According to ASTRA sources among former Española fighters, the reason for the attempt to detain the Spaniard was a suspicion of arms trafficking and involvement in a criminal organization.

Under the same articles, about arms trafficking and organized crime groups, as ASTRA found out, a few weeks before, another well-known member of the unit, the former commander of the Española Marine Unit with the call sign “Altai” Ruslan Kazantsev, was detained. He is now under arrest. The favorite of “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, RTVI and other propagandists founded a naval group, which was even called the first Russian “naval PMC”. It was responsible for defending the coast of annexed Crimea, including protecting gas production platforms.

After the arrest of Altai, according to ASTRA sources, the security forces conducted a search at the Avtolubitel-2 garage cooperative on Astrakhanskaya Street in Sevastopol and found a place where Kazantsev kept his weapons. The Española fighters brought the weapons from their base in Chernomorskoye (a coastal village in western Crimea).

A few days before his death, Spaniard told his comrades about Altai’s arrest, but he reassured them by claiming that it was Kuznetsov who was selling weapons, and that he himself had nothing to fear.

After December 4, Stanislav’s colleagues were no longer seen at the Flotskiy, and it is likely that they are on the run, according to ASTRA’s sources. Among them is Dmitry Kipa, who lived next door to Spaniard at Krylaty Street, 55. ASTRA has confirmed that he has not been active on social media for about a month.

Military crates, ATVs, and two Alabais in a garden community

The searches took place not only in the garage cooperative and Orlov’s house, but also in the Flotsky. Apparently, there was another small “base” of Española there – neighbors constantly saw ATVs, crates – probably with humanitarian aid – and two huge Alabais.

Along with the search at the water intake, the security forces detained Roman Dudnikov, the housekeeper, who took care of the birds and animals and carried out the Spaniard’s household tasks.

Despite the fact that Dudnikov was associated with Española for a while, he kept an eye on the birds in his garden community and, according to his neighbors, often helped them.

Dudnikov is currently in pre-trial detention on suspicion of arms trafficking and involvement in a criminal gang. According to his relatives and those who knew him closely, he was unaware of the activities of Spaniard and Altai.

“He’s not the person who did what he’s being accused of. He was just following their instructions. He took care of the dogs, built the enclosures, and dealt with all the animals. He was just trying to build something, fix something. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. Maybe he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. All the people in the organization had left and disappeared. He had nothing to hide behind. And it turns out that if you don’t hide, it’s not your fault…” — Dannikova told ASTRA.

Another person under arrest in the case of the organized crime group and arms trafficking is Grigory Gusev, nicknamed “Koldun,” who often visited Orlov’s dacha, ASTRA found out. The editorial office was unable to contact his family.

Even his relatives were not informed about the murder.

According to ASTRA, the security forces did not even inform Orlov’s family about his arrest and murder. A week after the incident, Igor Orlov, the son of Spaniard, contacted the police to request that his father be declared missing. The last time he spoke with his father was on December 2. Spaniard seemed unaware of his potential arrest and planned to return from Sevastopol to Moscow in mid-December.

The son of the former Española commander refused to give ASTRA any comments.

Española itself stated that the cause of death was being determined by “investigative authorities.”

“We cannot help but note that many people are interested in the reasons for the Spaniard’s death, and we are no less interested. Currently, the central investigative authorities are determining the exact cause and location of the death, as well as the perpetrators. Official information will be released upon the completion of the investigation,” Española announced on December 19, 2025.

“Smart and proactive people are not needed, only loyal ones”

Stanislav Orlov is one of the prominent Russian ultra-volunteers who have been fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014 on the Russian side.

He participated in the Second Chechen War. In 2014, he traveled to Crimea, where he participated in the events that led to Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, along with other football fans, according to a propaganda article about Orlov by RTVI. After Crimea, Orlov went to Donbas, where he led the Skull and Bones reconnaissance company, which was part of Alexander Khodakovsky’s Vostok battalion. According to journalists, Orlov received the call sign “Spaniard” because he was fluent in foreign languages, particularly Spanish.

In the spring of 2022, Orlov created a formation of former combatants, far-right activists, and football fans, which was initially part of the Vostok battalion (“DPR”), and later formed as a separate private military group called Española (or the 88th Española reconnaissance and sabotage brigade). According to Important Stories, the PMC was financed by the Rotenberg brothers, friends of Putin.

In November 2024, the UK imposed sanctions on Espanyol. In April 2025, Espanyol described Ukrainian civilians as a “legitimate target.”

The brigade took an active part in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Española’s first baptism of fire was in Kleshcheyevka, a village on the flank of Bakhmut. <…> Then came the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia directions, the battles for Uglyadar, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Chasov Yar,” RTVI reported. The brigade also participated in the battles for Mariupol.

In October 2025, the unit was suddenly decided to disband, leaving only the intelligence center Melody. Close to Española and fighting on the side of the Russian Federation neo-Nazis propagandist Komsomolskaya Pravda Dmitry Steshin then commented on this news as follows:

“I understand that you don’t need smart and proactive people; you need loyal ones. And you don’t need loyal, smart, or proactive people either. In this triad, the last two elements are unnecessary. You also don’t need people with history, opinions, or charismatic leaders who stand up for their own.”

On December 18, Espanyol announced that it no longer existed as a combat unit.

Author: Anna Snegireva.