Okay, so it’s spelled differently. But a pickle by any other name (or spelling) is still a pickle. And Igor Girkin has finally found himself in one. Heaven knows, he’s worked at it long enough.

In 2022, he was tried, in absentia, at The Hague for his alleged role in the 2014 downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine. Along with two other defendants, he was found guilty of the murder of the 298 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing jet, and sentenced to life in prison. He has ignored the judgment and has remained at liberty. Appearing as cool as the proverbial cucumber, he has said, quite simply, “I do not recognise the authority of the Dutch court on this matter. I am a military man and I am not going to accept that a civilian court in a foreign country has the authority to convict a person who took part in someone else’s civil war, only because their civilians were killed.” [Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, Jan. 26, 2024.]

Oh, well, then . . . that explains everything: Mr. Girkin — though it doesn’t show up on his curriculum vitae — is apparently a student of the Donald Trump Method of Evasion. Deny it long enough, and it never happened.

*. *. *

In reality, Girkin is a former Russian FSB intelligence colonel who has taken the nom de guerre of Strelkov (“Shooter”). He has fully supported Russia’s invasions, in 2014 and 2022, of Ukraine. But he made the same mistake that ultimately took the life of Yevgeny Prigozhin: he became openly critical of the military’s conduct of the war, and of President Vladimir Putin himself. He has declared his desire to run in opposition to Putin in the upcoming election (March 15-17, 2024), even though he has no chance of even being allowed to do so; he has said he merely “wanted to disrupt the ‘sham’ poll with the winner already known.” [Vicky Wong, BBC News, Nov. 19, 2023.]

Since, in Russia, it is apparently acceptable to shoot down commercial aircraft filled with innocent civilians (as long as it’s done on behalf of Mother Russia), but not to criticize the government, the military, or — Heaven forbid! — Tsar Putin himself . . .

Well, here is where things went sour for Mr. Girkin. Because he became upset at the way the Russian authorities were waging the war: he felt they were not trying hard enough. And so he founded a hard-line nationalist movement that he called The Club of Angry Patriots. And he began directing that anger at Putin himself, describing the President as a “non-entity,” and “a cowardly waste of space.” [BBC News, Nov. 19, 2023.]

Oh, shit!

I doubt many people were surprised when he was arrested, charged with “extremism,” found guilty, and sentenced to four years in a penal colony. Actually, that’s a very light sentence compared to others that have been handed down for similar “crimes” to people such as Vladimir Kara-Murza (25 years), and Alexei Navalny (a total of 30 years on various charges). But this time, I doubt that Mr. Girkin will have the option of refusing to recognize the authority of the court.

In fact, he will have four long years to marinate in his own anger.

And that, I promise you, is my last pun . . . for today, at least.

TTFN,
Brendochka
1/26/24