On Friday, July 21, a court ordered the arrest of Igor Strelkov (real surname Girkin), a convicted war criminal, former commander of the troops that fought for the self-proclaimed Donetsk “People’s Republic,” former FSB officer, and to this day a pro-war and anti-Putin blogger. The criminal case against him was opened for “public incitement to extremist activities on the internet”. Russian authorities have reportedly pressed charges against Strelkov at the request of former Yaroslavl city deputy Dmitry Petrovsky, who himself fought in Ukraine as a “civilian volunteer” and was outraged that Strelkov criticized the Russian army and Putin. Meduza delves into Strelkov’s backstory, explaining how he went from FSB officer to commander of a Russian proxy militia and one of the Kremlin’s most implacable critics.
“I am the one who started the war… Our department started the flywheel of the ongoing war,” Igor Strelkov told the ultra-conservative Zavtra (Tomorrow) magazine in the fall of 2014.
Strelkov, whose real last name is Girkin, is a former war reenactment enthusiast and veteran of the 1990s Yugoslav Wars and both Chechen Wars. He then worked for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). However, he became notorious in the fall of 2014 for commanding a Russian-backed unit that occupied administrative buildings in Sloviansk and other cities in eastern Ukraine. From May to August 2014, Strelkov served as “Minister of Defense” of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR), but resigned after a series of defeats at the front. After that Strelkov no longer actively participated in the fighting. He returned to Russia, where he helped “Veterans of Donbass”, started a YouTube channel and later a Telegram channel, and debated opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
According to Meduza sources close to the Putin government, Strelkov was forced to leave Donbass partly because of a “feud” with presidential adviser Vladislav Surkov. In 2013, Surkov, the former head of Putin’s domestic policy team, became (among other things) Putin’s personal adviser on Ukraine-related issues. After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and provoked a war in eastern Ukraine, Surkov began policing the “people’s republics” in Donbass. The Kremlin was convinced that the “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk should become centers of Russian influence in Ukraine, and Surkov was put in charge of the project. However, in the eyes of the Kremlin, he was unsuccessful and Putin fired him in 2020.
Strelkov repeatedly criticized Surkov for his involvement in negotiating the Minsk agreements aimed at ending the Donbass war. Strelkov even went so far as to describe Surkov as a member of the “Party of Treason” who “betrayed the residents of Donbass”. However, one of Surkov’s acquaintances, who spoke to Meduza on condition of anonymity, said that the former presidential adviser was “not an opponent of Strelkov.”
A Meduza source close to the Kremlin agrees. According to the source, Strelkov was “expelled from Donbas” by FSB agents who considered him “uncontrollable.” Their belief was based not on the fact that Strelkov made direct verbal attacks on one of Putin’s aides, but on his involvement in the downing of a passenger plane over the Donbas.
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A life sentence in absentia
In November 2022, a court in the Netherlands sentenced Igor Strelkov and two other defendants to life imprisonment. The court declared Strelkov a war criminal and found him guilty of shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) in the Donetsk region. The flight was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on June 16, 2014. All 298 passengers perished.
In the course of the investigation, experts came to the conclusion that the plane was shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft missile system belonging to the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade of Russia based in Kursk. The Buk missile system was transported to the territory of the “DNR” the night before the plane was shot down, and returned to Russia shortly after the missile was launched.
The Dutch court held Strelkov responsible for delivering the Buk system and negotiating with those responsible in Moscow, although Russia denied any involvement in the downing of the plane. Researchers working on the MH17 case believe that Putin personally authorized the extradition of the Buk.
None of the defendants in the case appeared in court, and the prosecutor expressed doubts that since Russia does not extradite its citizens, they would ever receive real punishment for the crime. “No one knows what the future will bring and we will make every effort on our part to arrest them,” the prosecutor said.
Strelkov maintains his innocence and is reluctant to comment on the issue. “The militia did not shoot down the Boeing,” Strelkov commented on the trial in June 2019. After the verdict was announced, he spoke on the Govorit Moskva radio station, repeating his previous statements and calling the trial “illegal and directed against the enemies of the new world order.” By this time, Strelkov had emerged not only as the “enemy of the new world order” but also as one of the Kremlin’s main critics.
“A nobody rules the country”
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Igor Strelkov has been a regular commentator on the course of the war and an outspoken critic of Russia’s military and political leadership. He often accused them of a lack of determination. The former “DNR” commander expressed his belief that “Ukraine has no right to exist”.
Criticism was particularly fierce after Strelkov’s failed attempt to join the Russian army in October 2022. Several pro-Kremlin Russian “war bloggers” reported at the time that Strelkov “went to Ukraine to fight”. The Central Intelligence Agency of Ukraine promised $100,000 for his arrest: Several criminal cases are pending against Strelkov in Ukraine, including charges of terrorism and violating the laws and customs of war.
But in early December Strelkov announced that he would return to Moscow. According to him, in October he actually went to the occupied Donetsk region and even enlisted as a private in one of the Russian proxy units fighting there, but this allegedly displeased the “upper command” and he fought in secret for two months.
Upon his return, Strelkov announced the creation of the Angry Patriots Club (KRP) – an informal association he hoped to turn into an official political movement. Since 2014, Strelkov has made several attempts – all failed – to launch a political career. Pavel Gubarev, one of the founders of the self-proclaimed “DNR”, became the club’s chairman. He too was arrested on July 21, 2023, shortly after Strelkow.
“We love Russia. “Our country is waging a serious war, but he is waging it clumsily,” read the KRP manifesto released on April 17. The document states that “an incompetent organization at the strategic, operational and tactical levels has led Russia into a war of attrition.”
“Angry Patriots as part of [civil society], took over many functions of the Russian state. In the first place, it is about the direct supply and re-equipment of the combat units of the Russian army. We will continue to do so in every situation. We also have experience in solving other problems,” the manifesto says.
In reality, KRP activities (at least those made public) were mainly limited to calls for the “liquidation of the Ukrainian state”. Strelkov described the current situation at the front as “humiliating” and put the blame primarily on Putin. “There is no ‘should have’ in history. For 23 years, the country has been headed by a nobody who has managed to throw dust in the eyes of a significant part of the population.”
“The country will not endure this cowardly mediocrity in power for another six years,” he added.
Meduza sources close to the Kremlin were certain that Strelkov’s arrest had been initiated by high-ranking officials as a “prophylaxis” after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s rebellion. “For the Kremlin Interior Ministry team, Strelkov was understandable and in some ways even handy as an outlet for the discontent of a small but still notable number of angry patriots,” a source said.
The source stressed that the Kremlin did not consider Strelkov particularly popular with the Russians. “He has a base of supporters, but that’s a drop in the bucket, he doesn’t even come close to Prigozhin. And he’s been publishing for a long time.” The source adds that the presidential administration finds the explanation simple: “Strelkov’s views are not mainstream.” In fact, Strelkov describes himself as a staunch monarchist.
Another source close to the presidential administration called Strelkov’s arrest “logical” based on what he said, saying that “he has been scolding everyone from the president to the defense ministry to Prigozhin for a long time.”
This source assumes that Strelkov would have been arrested “sooner or later”. He says that Strelkov “was initially used in Donbass as a ‘we are not here’ presence.” Then he wasn’t needed. He’s too confident.”
history of Elizaveta Antonova And Andrey Pertsev
translation of Emily Laskin