Moscow court has sentenced former so-called "Defense Minister of the DNR", Igor Strelkov (Girkin), to four years in prison. This information was reported by The Insider.
Strelkov was found guilty under the article on calls for extremism on the internet (Part 2 of Article 280 of the russian Criminal Code). The prosecutor had requested a sentence of 4 years and 11 months of imprisonment.
Strelkov was arrested in July of last year, and the case against him was classified. Strelkov claimed that he was persecuted for posts in his Telegram channel about the "Crimean issue" and the alleged failure of the russian military to receive their entitled payments. Additionally, he regularly commented on the course of the war in Ukraine, criticized the actions of the russian military leadership, and even accused putin of the failure of the "special military operation". While already in detention, Strelkov expressed his intention to run for the presidency of the russian federation.
In November 2022, a court in The Hague recognized Strelkov as one of the culprits in the destruction of the MH17 flight, which was shot down over the Donetsk oblast, resulting in the deaths of 298 people on board. The court sentenced him in absentia to life imprisonment.
It is worth noting that many human rights defenders in russia are sentenced to terms significantly exceeding 10 years.