In the aftermath of the aborted riot by “Wagner” mercenaries, the Kremlin cracks down on potential dissent by arresting Igor Guirkin, a pro-war nationalist and one of the former leaders of the Russian incursion into Donbas. Guirkin, known under the nickname “Strelkov”, was arrested and charged with “public calls for extremist activities on the Internet”.
As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has dragged on, Strelkov went on to criticize the Kremlin and the failures of the “special military operation.” He has also been critical of Putin, whom A few days ago he called him “a nobody” and “a coward.” “We have already lost” he assured his followers, losing hope that the invasion would end with a Russian victory. In addition, Strelkov’s lawyer, Alexander Molokhov, confirmed to the media that he had been detained and said that his apartment had been searched.
Guirkin belongs to the group of “military bloggers” who have often criticized the leadership of the Russian army and its defense ministry. However, his criticism does not touch the very idea of \u200b\u200bmilitary aggression against Ukraine and the West. Girkin, a former officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service, participated in the annexation of Crimea, led an armed group that launched the war in Donbas in 2014, and became “the defense minister” of Russia’s puppet republic in Donetsk.
It was during his presence there that his soldiers shot down the Netherlands commercial flight MH17 with a Russian-supplied air defense system, killing all 298 people on board. Guirkin was found guilty of the catastrophe in 2022 by a court in The Hague. His arrest in Russia followed months of unfettered public criticism of the authorities, similar to that carried out by Yevgeni Prigozhin, and may be part of Putin’s ongoing attempt to consolidate his power, weakened by the latter’s mutiny.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has reacted to public debates over the proper use of public money by initiating the removal of the country’s culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko. The ministry has been criticized for its decisions to allocate considerable funds, which could supposedly be better used to finance the country’s defense, towards the reconstruction of museums and the production of media products. During such a war, the majority of state resources should be spent on defense, Zelensky explained.
Ukraine’s president also fired the country’s ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, over what appeared to be his public criticism of Volodimir Zelensky’s reaction to the UK defense minister’s words, Ben Wallace, that Ukraine should show “a little more gratitude” to its partners. Zelensky then replied that he did not know how to thank Wallace more and suggested that he write to tell him how Ukraine should do this. Prystaiko called it “unhealthy sarcasm” live on British television.
