Igor Girkin: Putin Steering Russia Towards “Collapse”
Fugitive, pariah, and now oracle – Igor Girkin, the former FSB officer and notorious commander of pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, has transformed his Moscow prison cell into a pulpit of political prophecies. This ultranationalist, sentenced to life by a Dutch court for downing Flight MH17 in 2014 and later arrested in Russia for his caustic criticism of the Kremlin, has unleashed an apocalyptic forecast: Vladimir Putin is doomed, and Russia stands on the precipice of “collapse.”
Emerging from the shadows three weeks after a Moscow court extended his preventive detention, Girkin transmitted his diatribe through his lawyer, a curious medium indeed for this firebrand. A man who once held the faux title of “Minister of Defense” for Donetsk separatists, Girkin accuses Putin of failing to address Russia’s most pressing challenges, using the dead Evgheni Prigojin, former head of the Wagner mercenary group, as his focal point. Prigojin’s death, allegedly the result of an assassination, marks a pivotal moment in what Girkin sees as Russia’s descent into chaos.
Now, why does this matter? Girkin’s tirade is not just another blistering critique from a disgruntled Russian. It’s a piercing scream from within the belly of the beast, a sign that even those who once heralded Russia’s militant efforts in Ukraine have lost faith in the regime. Girkin is no political novice; his insights into Russian military strategy in Ukraine, amplified by his years in the FSB, cannot be brushed aside lightly. His verdict is stark: the current Russian power structure is disintegrating, and the nation will soon fall into the hands of a so-called “liberal opposition.”
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