In Russia, it is next to the collar. This time it affects the ex-secret service officer and ultra-nationalist Igor Girkin, known under the pseudonym Igor Strelkov. According to his wife, he was arrested in Moscow.
He is accused of extremism, Miroslava Reginskaya said on Girkin’s Telegram channel on Friday. Officials of the Commission of Inquiry took him away. Nothing is known about his whereabouts.
Girkin led the Kremlin-led separatist insurgency in Ukraine’s Donbass region in 2014. He has an international arrest warrant for his part in the 2014 downing of passenger jet MH17 over Donbass.
accused Putin of inaction
While Girkin is regarded as a clear supporter of Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine, he has been increasingly critical of Russia’s conduct of the war. He accused the military leadership in Moscow of incompetence and corruption. He also called for an even tougher and more ruthless crackdown in Ukraine. He initially criticized Chief of Staff Valeri Gerasimov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, but recently his accusations have increasingly turned against President Vladimir Putin, whom he accused of inaction.
Conflict with Prigozhin
According to the Russian internet portal RBK, Girkin was also searched. The arrest followed a complaint from a former mercenary in Wagner’s private army. Wagner fought for a long time in Ukraine alongside Moscow’s regular troops. Girkin had been in a sharp conflict with the head of the Wagner group Yevgeny Prigozhin for months. After the brief uprising against the military leadership led by Prigozhin, he accused him of high treason.
Wagner boss in the Kremlin
Although Kremlin chief Putin had spoken of “betrayal” on the day of the uprising and the advance of Wagner troops on Moscow, he later assured those involved after negotiations and the withdrawal announced by Prigozhin. It also recently became known that after the uprising, Putin received Prigozhin and 35 senior officers of the Wagner troops in the Kremlin. Many mercenaries are now in Belarus, whose ruler Alexander Lukashenko intervened as a mediator during the uprising. Girkin had criticized this as desertion.
Source: Krone
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