The Moscow Municipal Court sentenced Igor Girkin (also known as Igor Strelkov) on Thursday to four years in a general regime colony for questioning the salaries of Russian fighters and the situation in Crimea. Girkin was found guilty of committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which penalizes public calls for extremist activities on the Internet.

The state prosecution asked that Girkin serve 4 years and 11 months in a penal colony out of the maximum punishment under this article—five years in a penal colony. The court also banned Girkin from using the Internet while serving his sentence.

In July 2023, Girkin was arrested in Moscow and put in custody by the Meshchansky Court. The criminal case was based on two postings on his Telegram, published on May 25, 2023, which addressed questions about the salaries of Russian fighters and the situation around Crimea. From the very beginning, Girkin maintained his innocence and considered the charges absurd, although he did not deny that he was the author of these posts.

Girkin is a former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer and leader of the Russian-backed and Russian-controlled separatist state entity in eastern Ukraine called the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) from May to August 2014.

In November 2022, Girkin was convicted in absentia by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague for causing the plane crash of MH17 in eastern Ukraine by pro-Russian militants and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Russian government refused to recognize the ICC’s decision and jurisdiction. And Girkin himself claimed that the militia did not shoot down the plane.

In May 2023, the “Club of Angry Patriots” was created by Girkin and other pro-war Russian nationalists to protest Russian military officials and their failures during the conflict in Ukraine. In November 2023, Girkin also announced, through his supporters, his intention to run for the Russian presidential election in 2024.