Russia Detains Hardline Putin Critic

Igor Girkin called leader a 'cowardly mediocrity'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 21, 2023 2:24 PM CDT
Russia Detains Hardline Putin Critic
Igor Girkin, center, speaks with his lawyer standing in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow's Meshchansky District Court in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 21, 2023.   (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

The Russian Army veteran found guilty of murder for his role in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines aircraft over Ukraine in 2014 has been detained by Russian authorities—but not in connection with the deaths of 298 passengers and crew on Flight MH17. Igor Girkin, a hardline nationalist blogger also known as Igor Strelkov, was arrested at his home Friday for alleged extremism, his wife said in a Telegram message. Girkin has been a vocal critic of how the war in Ukraine is being conducted and recently referred to Vladimir Putin as a "cowardly mediocrity," the New York Times reports. Prosecutors said Friday that he had been charged with inciting extremism and asked a court to remand him into custody, reports Reuters.

Girkin, who led Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and was serving as defense minister for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic when MH17 was shot down, has called for Russia to fully mobilize for victory in Ukraine. In a July 18 Telegram post, Girkin repeatedly insulted Putin and asked him to transfer power "to someone truly capable and responsible," per Reuters. Analysts say his arrest appears to be part of a wider crackdown on ultranationalist critics of Putin's regime after the failed mutiny led by Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin last month, though Girkin has also criticized Prigozhin as a traitor. Russia's defense ministry has been "itching to arrest" Girkin for a long time, according to Tatiana Stanovaya at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Girkin was a member of the recently formed Club of Angry Patriots, which issued a statement Friday protesting his detention, saying it "undermines the population's trust in law enforcement organs" and "carries extremely negative consequences for the country's stability," the AP reports. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service, meanwhile, said it was watching developments with interest. "We would, of course, like nothing more than for this man, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the Netherlands, to serve his prison sentence here. The victims of MH17 and their relatives deserve that," the service said. "But the fact is that Russia does not extradite its citizens, and this event unfortunately does not bring that any closer."
(More Russia stories.)

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