Former agent of the Russian Federal Security Services (FSR) Igor Girkin, who was convicted by the court for the downing of Malysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014, and who recently became critical of the Kremlin, was arrested this Friday in Russia. .
The woman, Miroslava Reginskaya, confirmed the arrest and explained that Girkin was charged “in accordance with article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation”, which includes the crime of “extremist activities”.
Girkin’s lawyer, Alexander Molokhov, confirmed the arrest of his client by officials of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Girkin had repeatedly declared his willingness to go to the war zone, while criticizing the Kremlin and the Ministry of Defense, as well as the Chief of the General Staff, Valeri Gerasimov, and the founder of the Wagner Group, Yevgeni Prigozhin.
In November last year, a court in the Netherlands (which assumed jurisdiction over the downing of flight MH17, given that 193 of the 298 fatalities were Dutch nationals) convicted Girkin of the attack, along with Russian citizen Sergei Dubinski and Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. .
The Malaysia Airlines flight, which was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was hit by a missile as it flew over eastern Ukraine, an area extremely troubled by clashes between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatist militias (with whom Girkin collaborated). ).
In one of the latest developments in the case, last February, the Dutch prosecutor’s office announced that it had evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the supply to pro-Russian separatist forces of the anti-aircraft defense system used to fire a missile at the plane. .
The Kremlin has already announced that it “does not accept the results” of the investigation carried out by the international authorities and has disclaimed any responsibility, denouncing the politicization of the process.
Source: TSF
