Igor Strelkov (Girkin)
Former military personnel
1970-12-17
Imprisoned
Moscow
Biography
In his own words, he is a former FSB officer. Human rights organisations have repeatedly pointed to his involvement in war crimes. He took part in the fighting in eastern Ukraine as a member of pro-Russian groups and was defence minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). In 2022, a court in The Hague found him guilty in the case of shooting down the Malaysian Boeing flight MH-17 in July 2014 and sentenced him to life imprisonment in absentia. After the start of the full-scale invasion, Strelkov began to actively criticise the Russian authorities for, in his opinion, not being
In his own words, he is a former FSB officer. Human rights organisations have repeatedly pointed to his involvement in war crimes. He took part in the fighting in eastern Ukraine as a member of pro-Russian groups and was defence minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). In 2022, a court in The Hague found him guilty in the case of shooting down the Malaysian Boeing flight MH-17 in July 2014 and sentenced him to life imprisonment in absentia. After the start of the full-scale invasion, Strelkov began to actively criticise the Russian authorities for, in his opinion, not being tough enough in the conduct of the war. On 21 July 2023, Strelkov was detained after a house search and taken into custody the same day in a case of calls for extremism over two posts on Telegram. On 25 January 2024, Strelkov was sentenced to four years in a general regime colony.