Girkin, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, lost his freedom in the summer, but still plans to run for high office in the presidential election. He officially announced this in November through his contact person.
Since the elections in Russia are not democratic, there is no doubt that Putin will defeat his opponents in them.
Girkin is a vocal critic of Putin. He called Russia’s military strategy in Ukraine “too soft”. Criticism directed at Putin was also the reason for Girkin’s arrest in July of this year.
Girkin is also known as Igor Strelkov.
Interviewed by the AFP news agency, electrician Mihails Filipov says that he came from Novosibirsk, Siberia, to the event held in Moscow on Sunday. Filipov believes that Girkin “will take the position of (Russia’s) highest-ranking commander seriously and will not allow anyone to fool him.”
According to AFP, the event was attended by a large number of women, elderly people and war veterans. The participants visibly supported Girkin, as many wore t-shirts with his image. T-shirts and badges read in Russian “Freedom for Strelkov!”
“Strelkov has many supporters at the front,” veteran Yevgenii Skripnik, who fought in Donbass in 2014, told an AFP reporter.
Last year, Girkin was one of three men sentenced to life in prison by a Dutch court for shooting down a Malaysia Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine in the summer of 2014.
2023-12-24 18:48:00
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