Ultranationalist Russian military blogger Igor Girkin wants to run in next year’s Russian presidential election. Gerken was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment in the Netherlands for his involvement in the downing of flight MH17. He was arrested this summer in Moscow on suspicion of “extremism.” He has been detained since then.

From his prison cell, Girkin wrote a letter to his supporters and “all Russian patriots”, calling on them to campaign on his behalf. As long as he is not convicted, he can, in principle, participate in the elections.

Gerkin himself does not rate his chances highly. “Participating in the presidential elections in Russia today is like sitting at a gaming table full of cheaters,” he wrote in the letter. He hopes he can disrupt “sham elections in which the winner is known in advance” by everyone ‘Real patriots‘ To unite behind his candidacy.

Since the beginning of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Girkin has been highly critical of the Russian military. Because of this criticism, he was arrested in July. The “extremism” charge could result in a prison sentence of up to five years.

Girkin, a former FSB officer, was personally involved in the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine in 2014. He later became the “Minister of Defence” of the Russian-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic. He held this position when flight MH17 was shot down. As co-responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, he was sentenced in absentia in the Netherlands to life imprisonment in 2021.

Dan de Vries

Read more about the trial of Igor Girkin here: Igor Girkin, convicted in the MH17 case, remains detained in a Russian cell.