The anti-Ukraine super-hawk confined to his home on a heavy indictment. The winds are changing in Russia, where Roskomndazor, the state body that oversees mass communications, has accused 10 bloggers and front-line correspondents of “discrediting the Russian Armed Forces”. Among these Igor Girkin, secret agent, fighter and blogger among the most feared by Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin. Indeed, the Russian ultranationalist galaxy has been undergoing censorship and investigations for some time now. The “total war” propaganda is now evidently useless.
“A lot of people want me dead. Besides, I’m still a retired Secret Service officer,” Girkin told Corriere della Sera. “I have never hidden my disagreement with the actions of some of our rulers, including the president. But for me, the defense of Mother Russia is the only reason to live. Ukraine is our mortal enemy. And as such. it must be annihilated. I’ve been repeating it for eight years,” says the man with the nom de guerre Strelkov, which means “shooter.” “He is the second most hated Russian by Ukrainians,” reads the article.
In his curriculum several wars, in Transnistria, Bosnia and Chechnya. In 2014, he fights with his private militia in Donbass. “In two weeks he killed, looted, besieged the city of Sloviansk. His brutality provoked an immediate reaction from Kiev, which convinced Russia to enter the conflict.” Without me, nothing would have happened. “It was his moment of glory”, recalls Corriere.
The parable of glory was short-lived, Girkin soon fell out of favor and launched into communication. His last post is a violent attack on Yevgeny Prighozin, head of the Wagner Brigades. “I ignore the Kremlin’s intentions. But I know that this conflict will end in a complete victory for Russia, or in its defeat. There are no other options.” The latest information is a photo posted by his wife on social media and the news, given by former comrades, that, despite judicial measures, he is returning to Ukraine to fight with a battalion of volunteers.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
