A prominent Russian hard-line nationalist who accused President Vladimir Putin of weakness and indecision in Ukraine was detained Friday on charges of extremism, a signal the Kremlin has toughened its approach with hawkish critics after last month’s abortive rebellion by the Wagner mercenary company.
Igor Strelkov, a retired security officer who led Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and also was implicated by the Netherlands in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet that year, has argued that a total mobilization is needed for Russia to achieve victory. He recently criticized Putin as a “nonentity” and a “cowardly mediocrity.”
The revolt posed the most serious threat to Putin’s 23-year rule, eroding his authority and exposing government weakness. Strelkov served in the Russian military during the Chechen separatist wars and later joined the country’s top domestic security agency, the Federal Security Service where he reached the rank of colonel.
Strelkov, whose adopted name is rooted in the word “shooter,” had a penchant for war history and was among the Russians who take part in military reenactments, appearing in the uniform of an imperial Russian officer from World War I and toting historic weapons. “A lot of empty talk, the minimum of action and the utter lack of responsibility for failures - that is Putin’s style of late,” Strelkov said recently. “A nonentity that has managed to cheat a large part of the population has been at the country’s helm for 23 years.”
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