Igor Girkin / Igor Strelkov
GIRKIN, Igor Vsevolodovich (a.k.a. STRELKOV, Igor Ivanovich; a.k.a. STRELKOV, Ihor; a.k.a. STRELOK, Igor), Shenkurskiy Passage (Proyezd), House 8-6, Apartment 136, Moscow, Russia; DOB 17 Dec 1970) is a former employee of the FSB of Russia (1996-2013). He is known for his involvement in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine that began in 2014, and served as Minister of Defense of the Donetsk People’s Republic [DPR]. Before his involvement in Ukraine, Girkin had served in the Russian FSB (Federal Security Service), and participated in several conflicts including in Transnistria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Chechnya.
Strelkov is a staunch monarchist, sympathetic to the Russian Empire. For him, the phrase "collapse of the country" is associated not with 1991, but with 1918. He sympathizes with the white movement (obviously, therefore, he wears a mustache like that of White Guard officers). However, the external resemblance is not limited. Girkin tries to behave like a real Russian officer and often emphasizes that he is a man of honor. “This man emerged from the past, in terms of moral and ethical qualities he is clearly not from this century,” the writer Mikhail Polikarpov described him in this way.
Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin was born on December 17, 1970 in Moscow into a family of hereditary military men. His father - Vsevolod Ignatievich Girkin - was a soldier. His mother was named Alla Ivanovna Runova. Girkin's maternal grandfather volunteered to go to the front of the Great Patriotic War, served in the militia, was wounded five times. He went all the way to the commander of a rifle battalion, participated in the defense of Moscow, the Battle of Kursk, the battles near Voronezh, the liberation of the Baltic states and Poland. His paternal grandfather participated in the Soviet-Japanese War, was a regular aviation officer and served as a military engineer.
Igor studied at Moscow secondary school No. 249. Igor studied diligently, read with pleasure, and was especially fond of history. Having received a certificate of maturity, the young man at the age of 18 became a student at the State Historical and Archival Institute in Moscow. And a year later, the young man had a rare hobby for that time - military-historical reconstruction [re-enactment].
He decided to follow in his father's footsteps, and in 1992 his military career began as a volunteer (private) of the 2nd platoon of the Black Sea Cossack troops. in Transnistria. At the initiative of Igor, the fighters built their first "tank", sheathing a bulldozer with steel sheets; this bulldozer was able to turn over the Moldavian armored personnel carrier, after which the crew of the armored vehicle fled, and the Black Sea Cossacks had their own BTR-70 at their disposal.
In the period from November 1992 to March 1993, Igor Strelkov was again in a "hot spot" - he fought as a volunteer in Bosnia as part of the 2nd Russian Volunteer Detachment of the 2nd Podrinsky Light Infantry Brigade of the Republika Srpska Army. Subsequently, he published the "Bosnian Diary" with notes on the events of that period and personal experiences.
Igor served in the Russian army in the Air Defense Forces as a gunner in a security company (1993-1994). Starting service as a private, Girkin rose to the rank of junior sergeant. After serving military service, the young man remained in the ranks of the army, but already under a contract as a deputy platoon and commander of a self-propelled artillery mount. After 5 months, Igor received the rank of guard sergeant.
In 1995, Igor Girkin went to the Chechen Republic. Returning from the war, in 1996 he joined the Federal Security Service as a detective, simultaneously receiving the rank of lieutenant. Simultaneously with work, Igor took courses at the FSB, after which he received a promotion, taking the position of deputy head of the department - with the rank of senior lieutenant. At that time, Igor remembered his youthful hobby and became the head of the "Consolidated machine gun team", created on the basis of the military-historical club "Moscow Dragoon Regiment". The main goal of the organization was the reconstruction of historical battles, in which Igor took part with pleasure, most often in the lower military ranks.
From 1998 to 2013, he worked in the FSB in special forces - and again under bullets: he participated in the second Chechen war and military operations in Dagestan. The details of his activities during this "blank period" are unreported in open sources. Since the start of the second war between Chechnya and Russia in 1999, thousands of civilians have been killed or have disappeared, all in a climate of impunity. FSB operations against the armed underground in Dagestan are often raids aimed at capturing militants and seizing weapons and other evidence of participation in illegal armed groups. In 2013 Dagestan continued to be the most violent area in the North Caucasus, with more than 60 percent of all casualties in the region.
In 2013, he "retired" from the FSB with the rank of colonel due to a conflict with his superiors.
By early April 2014, armed groups emerged in the Donbass and proclaimed the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. A key actor in these initial days was Igor Strelkov. The pseudonym "Strelkov" was chosen by Girkin, based on the fact that this surname is more easily remembered and reflects the owner's connection with military affairs. There is scant evidence that Putin ever directly ordered Strelkov and his compatriots to the Donbass. Using his own initiative, Strelkov identified Slavyansk as a city vulnerable to his fifty-two supporters and seized it on 12 April 2014, leading to first armed clashes in the region.
He became a cult figure among supporters of the "Russian spring". During the defense of Slavyansk, the leadership of the Russian Federation was in no hurry to provide military assistance to the rebels. Reportedly individuals in the Russian leadership actively opposed the rebels and even recommended that Strelkov “shut up shop.” The conflict quickly grew in scope, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces, after reclaiming some ground during the summer of 2014, were defeated by Russian conventional military units at the Battle of Ilovaisk.
Once Moscow’s covert war began, the “local authorities” (the first Prime Minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the first Defense Minister were, respectively, Russian political technologist Aleksandr Borodai and FSB officer Igor Girkin-Strelkov) stated that the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate was the main religious group in the area and began to move against other Christian religious activity. Strelkov himself has repeatedly stated that he is a supporter of the orthodox monarchy. He believes: “Any authoritarian form of government is optimal for Russia. It fits our culture and economic realities.... I am a believing Christian, I try to live according to this principle. I have long come to the conclusion that life is given to a person for something. Not to enjoy it."
The Donetsk People’s Republic asserted governmental authority over a part or region of Ukraine without the authorization of the Government of Ukraine. The militia in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic is defying the peaceful settlement regime, continues combat operations, and has seized and occupies regional government buildings, using them as its headquarters and firing positions. Igor Strelkov, the leader of the militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic, rejected Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s peace plan. On August 14, 2014, Strelkov resigned from the post of Minister of Defense of the DPR "in connection with the transfer to another job."
On April 15, 2014, the SBU initiated criminal proceedings on the facts of “organization by a citizen of the Russian Federation Strelkov of a premeditated murder and actions to the detriment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, carrying out subversive and subversive activities, as well as organizing mass riots in the eastern regions of our state.”
Girkin faced international accusations and legal actions for his role in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 on 17 July 2014, which resulted in the death of all 298 people onboard. A class-action lawsuit was filed against Strelkov by 25 relatives of those killed in the Boeing 777 crash on July 17, 2014. On December 21, 2017, the District Court of the Northern District of Illinois satisfied the claim, ordering Igor Strelkov to recover from Igor Strelkov in favor of the victims of the plane crash a total of $400 million ($20 million for each plaintiff). However, the chance of receiving compensation is zero,
Girkin and three others were charged with causing the crash and murdering the people onboard by the Dutch-led Joint Investigation Team (JIT). “Because I was the commander of the rebels and a participant in the conflict, I feel morally responsible for these deaths,” Strelkov admitted in an interview with the British newspaper The Times, wrote “Svobodnaya Pressa” in May 2020. Strelkov does not admit guilt and repeats: “The militia did not shoot down the Boeing.” The trial began in March 2020 and was held in the Netherlands, but Girkin and the other defendants had not been present at the trial. On 17 November 2022, Strelkov was convicted in absentia by the Dutch court for his role in shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
All evidence suggested that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was likely downed by a SA-11 surface-to-air missile from separatist-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine. Russia-backed separatist fighters have demonstrated proficiency with surface-to-air missile systems and have downed more than a dozen aircraft over the past few months, including two large transport aircraft. Shortly after the crash, separatists – including the self-proclaimed “Defense Minister” of the group calling itself the Donetsk People’s Republic, Igor Strelkov, a Russian citizen – claimed responsibility for shooting down a military transport plane on social media. When it became evident that the plane was a civilian airliner, separatists deleted social media posts boasting about shooting down a plane and possessing a Buk (SA-11) system.
Even after the defeat of Ukrainian forces in Ilovaysk in August 2014, the Russian military encountered considerable difficulties with command and control of its proxies. Rampant criminality also prevailed as the various proxy groups organized themselves into mini-fiefdoms. This led the Kremlin to send high-level emissaries to reign in the various warlords, and when that failed special forces even resorted to assassination and forced extraction from the battlefield.
The leader of the Cossack Great Don Army, Nikolai Kozitsyn, was for example forced out of the Donbas by Russian services. Another prominent Russian commander, Igor Strelkov, was also removed. To instill greater professionalism among its proxy forces, therefore, Moscow has increasingly turned in both Ukraine and Syria to private military companies.
It was widely known that Strelkov-Girkin had led advance reconnaissance teams for Russia in Crimea and served as chief of security for Russian oligarch Konstanin Malofeev, a key financier of Russian irregulars, Strelkov reported that the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” had executed people.
After his resignation, Strelkov returned to Moscow. He organized the Novorossiya movement, which helped volunteers. He often criticized the leadership of the LPR and DPR (for selfish interests) and the leadership of Russia (for not properly supporting the militia). In 2015-2016, he tried to get involved in politics - he talked about creating a party, but this did not result in something intelligible.
At first, he was enthusiastic about the Special Military Operation, but soon again took the position of a critic, this time of the Russian military: they are attacking in the wrong way, in the wrong place, with the wrong forces, etc. In May 2022, someone even created the telegram channel “Did Strelkov whine today?”, where almost every day there is one post: “Yes, Igor Strelkov whined today.” And so it was almost every day. He himself tried several times to get to the front. But he is apparently not welcome there - apparently, after all the critical statements, his figure is too toxic.
In January 2023, entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin publicly invited Strelkov to join Wagner PMC. But after mutual reproaches and insults, the former militiaman refused such an offer.
Girkin wrote 12 July 2023, posting on Telegram, : "I am forced to seriously consider the version put forward by one of the like-minded people, which is in the following:
"THE COUP WAS SUCCESSFUL. The powers within the ruling mafia are currently being redistributed as (or close to) planned by the conspirators behind Prigozhin. The "Shoigu-Vorobiev-Sobyanin Tower" has lost some of its positions (although not completely demolished), and part of its influence and resources "flows" into the group of oligarchs of the "Ozero Cooperative" (Rotenbergs, Kovalchuks and Co.). This group, vitally interested in ending the war "on any terms" - will not let us win in any case and will lead the president to realize the need to accept defeat and transfer supreme power to a successor nominated from this group (Kiriyenko? Prigozhin?).
"In the coming months, we should expect new campaigns aimed at undermining not only of the RF Ministry of Defense, but also at the demolition of the influence of Patrushev and those parts of the FSB that are not controlled (or not completely controlled) by the President Administration and the oligarchic groups behind it. In the meantime, they will do everything so that the urgently necessary measures to prepare the army, rear and industry for a long hard war are not taken or slowed down as much as possible. This may include major defeats at the front, caused by a lack of reserves and a shortage of personnel, military equipment and ammunition. (And then these defeats will be the reason for a new blow to the "siloviki" in favor of the "peacekeepers" (or rather, supporters of surrender)."
In July 2023 Girkin publicly accused President Vladimir Putin and the army top brass of not pursuing what they call Russia's "special military operation," in Ukraine harshly or effectively enough. "History has no subjunctive mood. For 23 years, a nonentity was at the head of the country, who managed to "blow "smoke in the eyes" of a significant part of the population. Now he is the last island of legitimacy and stability of the state. To remove him illegally means to "successfully finish the work of those who put the Unique Advantage on the throne in due time. But the country will not survive another 6 years in power of this cowardly mediocrity. And the only thing he could do usefully "before the end" (so as not to cover his name with eternal shame in History, like Judas Gorby - [Yudushka] Judas not Jew) is to ensure the transfer of power to someone truly capable and responsible. Too bad it didn't even cross his mind. And if it comes, then we have already seen the "ability to choose associates" many times ..."
His arrest on 21 July 2023 by his ex-employer, the FSB state security service, suggested authorities had wearied of his criticism of and perhaps of other loud nationalist voices who had appeared to have exceptional license to deride the war effort.
Girkin was married three times. By his first wife he had a son. The second wife is Vera Olegovna Nikitina . Two sons were born in the marriage - Andrey (2004) and Ivan (2005). The third wife is Miroslava Sergeevna Reginskaya (born 1993). In marriage, a daughter, Ulyana, was born (2016). Miroslava helps her husband in all endeavors, has an active political position and is a member of the Novorossiya social movement, headed by Strelkov. In 2014, they wrote about his family: “They live more than modestly - no car, no dacha, no luxuries.” Igor and Miroslava like to spend their holidays on the Crimean peninsula.
Strelkov's father-in-law, Sergei Sitolenko, was killed in March 2022 in the battles near Avdiivka in the Donetsk region.
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