Igor Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, speaks at a news conference in Moscow, Russia, on November 13, 2018.
Pavel Golovkin/AP
Igor Girkin was formerly an FSB officer and leader of militants in Ukraine. Now he’s a war blogger.
He has criticized Russia’ war strategy, saying on Sunday that Russia is sleepwalking toward defeat.
Girkin said that Russian society was not prepared for such a “long, protracted” war.
Igor Girkin, a former Federal Security Service officer who once led a group of Russian militants in Donetsk, said in a YouTube video that Russia is sleepwalking toward military defeat.
Girkin, who is also known by his alias “Strelkov,” is now a prominent war blogger who has criticized the Russian military strategy in Ukraine.
In a YouTube manifesto, reported on by the Ukrainian newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda, Girkin said on Sunday that the situation on the frontline has an “extremely negative” impact on the Russia’s ability to win the war.
“I’m not afraid to say that we are heading towards military defeat,” Girkin said, adding that the Russian economy, military, and political system were unprepared for such a “long, protracted war.”
He claimed that the Russian media “glosses over” the war’s detrimental effects on the country.
It follows comments by chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley last week in which he said Russians are “struggling in a big way,” with the country’s army failing to make any military progress in the past three weeks and its forces being undertrained.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Russia’s economy is also struggling, evidenced by a budget squeeze, a decrease in investment, and predictions that the economy is entering long-term regression.
Though Girkin is pro-war, he has been critical of the impact of the invasion of Ukraine on Russia.
According to Bellingcat, he has called for the full mobilization of Russia’s population, a more aggressive war effort, and has generally been critical of Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu.
In February, Girkin criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s national address about the war with Ukraine for blatantly ignoring Moscow’s “failures” and “defeats.”
Ukrayinska Pravda reported that Girkin played a major role in the annexation of Crimea in 2014. The media outlet said that Girkin stated that he had “forcibly” made local deputies vote for secession from Ukraine after arriving in Crimea with armed militants in February 2014.
Girkin later led a group of militants to seize administration buildings in the Donetsk city of Sloviansk and declared himself the “Supreme Commander” of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR)
He was dismissed from a position of authority in the DPR in August 2014 when 298 people died after a Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down.
Girkin and three others were charged with murder by Dutch prosecutors. They were later found guilty and issued life sentences.
In October 2022, Ukrayinska Pravda reported that Girkin was believed to be fighting for Russia in Ukraine. According to The Institute for the Study of War, he illegally joined the Donetsk People’s Republic battalion.
His wife, Myroslava Reginskaya, posted a photo of the couple, in which Girkin was wearing a military uniform. Several prominent Ukrainians offered substantial cash rewards for whoever captured him, per Ukrayinska Pravda.