Critic who shot down MH17 arrested for accusing Putin of weakness in Ukraine

Igor Girkin, an extreme nationalist militia leader turned blogger, was arrested in his Moscow apartment and detained for two months on charges of extremism
(
Image: AP)

A pro-war nationalist responsible for the downing of flight MH17 has been arrested after accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of weakness and indecisiveness in Ukraine.

Igor Girkin, an extreme nationalist militia leader turned blogger, was arrested in his Moscow apartment and held for two months on charges of extremism after a court appearance. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

He argued that total mobilization is necessary for Russia to achieve victory and recently criticized Putin as "nothingness" and "cowardly mediocrity".

He said: "Lots of empty words, minimal action and complete lack of accountability for failures - that's Putin's style lately. A non-entity that managed to deceive a large part of the population has been in charge of the country for 23 years."

Igor Girkin a few weeks ago, before his arrest (
Picture:
PA)
The charges against Girkin signal the Kremlin's hardened stance on criticism after last month's abortive rebellion by the Wagner mercenary company.

Girkin was convicted of murder in the Netherlands, in absentia, last year for his role in the crash of a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane over eastern Ukraine that had 10 Britons on board.

Strelkov has more than 875,000 subscribers on his messaging app channel, the Angry Patriots Club, where he issued a statement protesting his detention, calling it a "provocation" that "undermines people's trust in law enforcement bodies" and "has extremely negative consequences for the stability of the country".

A former colonel in the Federal Security Service, he participated in the Kremlin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, then led fighters in eastern Ukraine during the first months of a Moscow-backed separatist rebellion in 2014.

His role in the downing of MH17 killed all 298 people aboard the Boeing 777 and he was accused along with two others of bringing the Buk air defense missile system from a Russian military base in Ukraine and positioning it for launch.

The Dutch P...

World Jul 22, 2023 0 48 Add to Reading List

Critic who shot down MH17 arrested for accusing Putin of weakness in Ukraine

Igor Girkin, an extreme nationalist militia leader turned blogger, was arrested in his Moscow apartment and detained for two months on charges of extremism

(

Image: AP)

A pro-war nationalist responsible for the downing of flight MH17 has been arrested after accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of weakness and indecisiveness in Ukraine.

Igor Girkin, an extreme nationalist militia leader turned blogger, was arrested in his Moscow apartment and held for two months on charges of extremism after a court appearance. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

He argued that total mobilization is necessary for Russia to achieve victory and recently criticized Putin as "nothingness" and "cowardly mediocrity".

He said: "Lots of empty words, minimal action and complete lack of accountability for failures - that's Putin's style lately. A non-entity that managed to deceive a large part of the population has been in charge of the country for 23 years."

Igor Girkin a few weeks ago, before his arrest (

Picture:

PA)

The charges against Girkin signal the Kremlin's hardened stance on criticism after last month's abortive rebellion by the Wagner mercenary company.

Girkin was convicted of murder in the Netherlands, in absentia, last year for his role in the crash of a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane over eastern Ukraine that had 10 Britons on board.

Strelkov has more than 875,000 subscribers on his messaging app channel, the Angry Patriots Club, where he issued a statement protesting his detention, calling it a "provocation" that "undermines people's trust in law enforcement bodies" and "has extremely negative consequences for the stability of the country".

A former colonel in the Federal Security Service, he participated in the Kremlin's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, then led fighters in eastern Ukraine during the first months of a Moscow-backed separatist rebellion in 2014.

His role in the downing of MH17 killed all 298 people aboard the Boeing 777 and he was accused along with two others of bringing the Buk air defense missile system from a Russian military base in Ukraine and positioning it for launch.

The Dutch P...