Igor Girkin Detained in Russia After Wagner 'Tip-Off'

Former Russian military commander Igor Girkin has been detained by authorities, his wife said in a post on his Telegram channel on Friday.

Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, is a Russian nationalist, a prominent military blogger, and a former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer who assisted in Russia's move to annex the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. He was detained at his home at around noon Moscow time, Russian news outlet RBC reported, citing his lawyer, Alexander Molokhov, and two law enforcement sources.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 Girkin has been openly publishing commentary critical of Russia's military strategy and setbacks.

According to RBC, Girkin's detention was carried out at the request of a former member of the notorious paramilitary outfit the Wagner Group, which is headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin. This couldn't immediately be verified by Newsweek.

Girkin's wife, Miroslava Reginskaya, said employees of the Russian Investigative Committee detained him at their home about 11.30 a.m. local time. She said she wasn't home at the time, but received the information from their concierge. She was told by friends he has been charged with extremism, which carries a maximum six-year jail term.

"From friends, I managed to find out that my husband was charged under Article 282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (extremism)," she wrote. "I do not know anything about the whereabouts of my husband, he did not get in touch."

She added: "At the time of his arrest, I was not at home."

Molokhov told RBC that he was looking into Girkin's whereabouts.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Investigative Committee for comment via email.

Days earlier, Girkin said Russia would not survive another presidential term by Putin, changing tack from criticizing the Russian president's military decisions to turning to the issue of his leadership of the country in general.

"The country will not survive another six years of this cowardly mediocrity in power," Girkin said on Tuesday.

And last month, the former commander said Putin "is not going to win this war at all."

"Whatever victories our army achieves in this war, we are going to lose it with this kind of approach of the country's leadership," he said in a video clip that went viral.

The Kremlin hasn't commented on reports of Girkin's arrest. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment via email, and has reached out to Girkin's wife, Reginskaya, for additional comment via social media.

Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and founder of R.Politik. Reality of Russian Politics, a political analysis firm, said Girkin's detention is a moment many within the siloviki (an elite group of Russian businessmen and leaders) have "eagerly awaited."

"Strelkov had overstepped all conceivable boundaries a long time ago, sparking the desire among security forces—from the FSB to military chiefs—to apprehend him," she tweeted, noting that the complaint came from a former commander of the Wagner Group.

"At this point, the source of the accusation is inconsequential—it does not come from Wagner in its current, let's put it softly, difficult state," she tweeted, referring to the fate of the paramilitary outfit following an uprising led by its head, Prigozhin, late last month.

Much of the group has been relocated to Belarus under a deal brokered by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko during Prigozhin's "march for justice" against the Kremlin's top brass and their handling of the war in Ukraine.

"Strelkov's arrest undeniably serves the interests of the Ministry of Defence," said Stanovaya. "This is a direct outcome of Prigozhin's mutiny: the army's command now wields greater political leverage to quash its opponents in the public sphere."

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Update 07/21/23, 7:55 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional background information.