Igor Girkin has been arrested by the Russian authorities. This is confirmed by his lawyer.
It is still unclear why he would be detained. Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, was involved in the 2014 annexation of Crimea, the subsequent uprising in eastern Ukraine and the downing of flight MH17. Lately he has been critical of the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Sentenced to life
The former intelligence officer is wanted internationally for involvement in the downing of MH17. He was sentenced to life in prison in November for the murder of 298 people on the plane. The judge considered him ultimately responsible as the highest-ranking soldier there.
Girkin’s wife Miroslava Reginskaja has spread a message about his arrest via Telegram. She writes that he was arrested at the end of the morning (early afternoon in the Netherlands) by the so-called Investigation Committee. “I don’t know my husband’s whereabouts, he hasn’t contacted me.” She would have understood from friends that Girkin is accused of extremism.
Criticism of Putin
Girkin has in the past criticized Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu over the conduct of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In one of his latest social media posts, he calls on Putin to hand over power to a successor. “This country will not survive another six years with this cowardly mediocrity in power.” Earlier this year, Girkin announced that he wanted to go into politics.
According to the Belarusian opposition channel Nexta, someone from the Wagner Group filed a complaint against Girkin this week. Girkin is said to have collected donations for the mercenary army, but the proceeds would not have reached Wagner.