Reconnaissance Detachment Moscow, 106th Airborne Division is a Russian right wing military unit which consists of right-wing football hooligans. This unit was created specifically to gather far-right football hooligans into one unit. The Moscow reconnaissance company first became known in January 2023. The Moskva has now grown to the size of a battalion and has about 500 men. Of these, 90% have previously served in the army, while the rest are being mobilised for the first time.
**Malofeev funding**
The idea of creating a military unit of football hooligans [belonged](https://archive.is/odz9I#selection-475.0-483.67) to the Double-headed eagle society, created in 2017 by Orthodox billionaire and owner of the Tsargrad group of companies Konstantin Malofeev. Members of Double-headed eagle persuaded Malofeev to sponsor the creation of a unit made up of football hooligans. The Ministry of Defense did not support the initiative, but in mid-summer 2022 it itself approached the official Spartak fan club with the initiative to create an all-fan unit. The Ministry of Defence changed its mind after a conversation with one of the commanders of the PMC Wagner Ratibor – he called the football hooligans his best fighters. In Moscow, there are also fighters who have served in the Wagner PMC. Hooligans were not able to create their own unit, so the initiative was implemented only in September, when the mobilization campaign in Russia began.
The spokesman for the Reconnaissance Detachment Moscow, 106th Airborne Division is the far-right activist and former host of the programme “Honest Frank” on Tsargrad TV, Dmitry “Frank” Rumyantsev.
**Española relationship**
Previously, the only unit consisting of hooligans was Española recently reformatted into PMC. Unlike Española, the Moscow reconnaissance unit has not yet taken part in combat operations and is part of the Ministry of Defence. Espanyola leader Stanislav “The Spaniard” Orlov comes from the football firm Red-Blue Warriors, as does part of the Moskva leadership. The relationship between Moskva and Espanyola is “brotherly competition”.
