Russia arrests prominent military blogger critical of Putin

A prominent Russian military blogger, who has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military leaders for not fighting harder in Ukraine, was arrested in Moscow on Friday.

Igor Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, was detained at his home on Friday morning and is facing extremism charges, according to his wife, Miroslava Reginskaya. He appeared in a Moscow courtroom later on Friday.

The pro-war blogger had ratcheted up his criticism of Putin in recent days, calling the Russian leader a “lowlife” and “cowardly bum.”

“For 23 years, the country was led by a lowlife who managed to ‘blow dust in the eyes’ of a significant part of the population,” Girkin said in a post on Tuesday, according to CNN.

“Now he is the last island of legitimacy and stability of the state,” he added. “But the country will not be able to withstand another six years of this cowardly bum in power.”

The Russian army veteran and former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer helped Moscow annex Crimea in 2014 and later organized separatist militias in eastern Ukraine.

He and two others were convicted by a Dutch court last November for their role in the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, which killed all 298 people on board. 

Girkin’s arrest comes as Putin is seeking to restore order following a short-lived mutiny last month led by Wagner group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has also been highly critical of how the Kremlin is prosecuting the war.

CIA chief Bill Burns on Thursday said he believes Putin is trying to “buy time” as he decides what to do with the mercenary leader, who has spent time in Belarus and Russia since calling off his march on Moscow.

Burns added that Prigozhin’s mutiny has exposed Putin’s weaknesses and misjudgments.

“If and when the Ukrainians make further advances on the battlefield, I think what that’s going to do is cause more and more Russians in the elite and outside the elite to pay attention to Prigozhin’s critique of the war as well,” he added.