Igor Girkin, a prominent ultranationalist who is currently behind bars awaiting trial on charges of inciting extremism, has announced that he is running for president in next year’s election. He did so in an address read on his behalf, the online news channel SOTA reported, cited by Reuters and BTA.
In a post on the Telegram social network, SOTA posted a video from a press conference of Oleg Nelzin, whom the television named as the co-chairman of an organization called “Russian Movement in Support of Igor Strelkov”. In the video, Nelzin reads a letter on behalf of Girkin.
The document instructs Girkin’s supporters to set up headquarters and begin collecting signatures in support of his candidacy, SOTA noted.
In August, Girkin said, again from prison, that he would make a better president than Vladimir Putin, whom he described as “too nice.” At the time, his speech was met with derision, and his appearance in the election is considered unlikely.
He is a former military commander of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, also known as Igor Strelkov. Strelkov, 53, was the defense minister of the unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic even before the war in Ukraine.
After it began, he accused Vladimir Putin of weakness and indecision because of the pace of military action. He himself was from the early days in the ranks of the separatists in Donetsk and participated in the resistance against Kiev long before Russia invaded Ukraine. After that, he joined the military operations, but he did not stop criticizing the actions of the leadership of the army and the Ministry of War from the first days of the military conflict.
In the West, Girkin, who in August lost an appeal against his pre-trial detention, is best known for his conviction in absentia by a Dutch court for his role in the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Kremlin spokesman Dimitriy Peskov said earlier that Putin enjoyed unprecedented support and that he would win by a large majority if he ran for president again.
2023-11-18 19:46:20
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