Analysts said Mr Girkin, a former FSB colonel, traveled to Donetsk in 2014 as an independent nationalist fighter and that his charisma and expertise propelled him to the leadership. For a few months the Kremlin tolerated Mr. Girkin’s leadership in Donetsk, but after rebel fighters shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 7, 2014, killing 298 people, they fired him. Most of the people killed on Flight 17 were Dutch and in 2019, Dutch prosecutors charged Mr Girkin with murder. Russian authorities ignored the arrest warrant.
His face is swollen
In recent years, Mr Girkin has been seen on the Moscow Metro cutting a scruffy figure. Now 51, his face is puffy, his hair gray and his mustache has lost its sharpness. But the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine in February reinvigorated Mr. Girkin, who has established himself as a military analyst on the Telegram social media channel. Mr Girkin supports the invasion of Ukraine but criticized the Kremlin for not fully committing and ordering full mobilization. He also used Telegram to deny that he had tried to join a frontline unit. “Sooner or later I will definitely be at the front (this war, as I warned in advance, will be long and difficult). But not now,” Mr Girkin told his 426,000 followers.
