The enigmatic former commander of Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine has slammed the peace deal hashed out by Ukrainian and separatist representatives and overseen by Russian and European officials in Minsk last week, saying that if the “militants” he once commanded agree to Kyiv’s conditions it would mean “capitulation.”
Igor Girkin, a Muscovite who is better known by his nom de guerre Igor Strelkov, meaning “Shooter,” said of the Minsk deal, which led to a bilateral, shaky ceasefire in the embattled eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk that has been in place since Sept. 5, “you can’t think up more shameful agreements than those that were made in Minsk.”
He also warned that Ukraine is preparing a full-scale war against Russia and threw his support behind Russian President Vladimir Putin, to whom until now he has not professed his loyalty.
The 12-point Minsk protocol signed by the parties and released this week by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), whose representative was witness to the deal, outlines what must be done in order for the ceasefire to hold and a political solution to the conflict negotiated. Those agreements include decentralization of power and special status for Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, the immediate release of all hostages and more.
While Kyiv’s representative, former president Leonid Kuchma, and separatist leaders Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitskiy signed the agreement, some rebels in eastern Ukraine have expressed their dissatisfaction with the accord, saying it is beneficial to Kyiv and that they will not recognize it.
Igor Girkin speaks to reporters in Moscow on Sept. 11.
During a press conference in Russia’s Rostov on Don on Sept. 9, separatist militia leader Pavel Gubarev said his forces would continue to expand the “territory of Novorossiya” – the czarist-era term for modern-day eastern Ukraine and the name chosen by separatists for their self-declared territory – to include another seven regions of Ukraine and would not adhere to the armistice. The Minsk protocol, he added, is “just a piece of paper.”
But his rebels won’t have the direct assistance of Girkin, an experienced military commander who fought in Chechnya, as well as Transnistria, the breakaway territory in Moldova. Donning muted camouflage fatigues, the mustachioed commander with his signature pomaded hair who participates in war re-enactments for fun when he’s not fighting actual wars, told reporters in his first press conference since going on “vacation” in August that he would not return to eastern Ukraine.
“I think I can be of the most use here in Russia,” he told reporters. In Russia, there is a “party of peace” that exists, which he does not support, he said, referring to the country’s political opposition. The “front” of the battle to save Russia from destruction is “here.”
“We are losing the remains of the fatherland,” Girkin said. “The best way for people to save Russia from destruction by western agents is to stay and not support the opposition.”
Girkin returned to his native Russia last month after resigning from his post as defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic as reports of infighting among the rebel leadership and rumors that he had been wounded in battle near Snizhne, Donetsk Oblast, swirled.
For months he had led the separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine, where he ruled the territories controlled by his militia with an iron fist. While occupying the city of Sloviansk, Donetsk, Oblast, he is believed to have carried out extrajudicial executions.
Documents uncovered by the Kyiv Post in July after his men retreated from the city following days of heavy shelling by Ukrainian forces show three cases in which Strelkov served as chairman of a “military-field tribunal” that tried four men for looting and treason. Three of the men were executed, according to the documents, which were signed in blue ink by Strelkov. The fourth man was acquitted.
On Sept. 11, with the flags of Russia and Novorossiya and a portrait of a young Putin hanging on the wall, Girkin said that the West and their agents do not bother to hide their plan to thwart Putin and topple Russia.
The aim of what he called a “fifth column” in Russia, which he said operates like a bunch of “hyenas,” is clear: extend the war and not allow Russians in Ukraine and Russia to enjoy a peaceful life.
Girkin said the West wants to weaken Russia with further sanctions, and then incite a “Moscow Maidan,” meaning a revolution like that of Ukraine’s EuroMaidan, which toppled the former President Viktor Yanukovych in February after months of mass protests.
Suggesting that Russia rally around its president to ensure the country’s future, Girkin said Putin is the only “guarantor of freedom and peace.”
The press conference ended with a female reporter asking Strelkov: “When will the war in Ukraine end?”
“If I was a god I could answer that,” Strelkov replied.
Kyiv Post editor Christopher J. Miller can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter at @ChristopherJM.
