Igor Girkin (Strelkov), the Russian former military intelligence officer who led the seizure of Sloviansk in April 2014, has admitted to using civilians as human shields and exposing them to shelling in 2014. This is not the only war crime that Girkin acknowledges during this latest interview, in which he gives more details of how he personally decided on targets for extrajudicial killings. Following outrage from Ukrainian journalists, Girkin asserted that all their actions had been justified, and said he regretted only having not killed more Ukrainians.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
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Halya Coynash: Separatist leader Girkin admits to using civilians as human shields
Commander and self-proclaimed minister of Defence of so the called "Donetsk People's Republic" Igor Girkin, aka Strelok (C), walks with his bodyguards in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk on July 11, 2014. Intense battles raged on July 11 around the airport in the main stronghold of pro-Kremlin insurgents as Ukraine's new leader laid out tough terms for a ceasefire demanded by his European allies and Russia.
