On July 21, he was arrested in Moscow Igor Strelkov Greecea former FSB officer, one of the most prominent participants in the conflict in Donbass in 2014 and leader of the so-called “Angry patriots“: a national-patriotic movement of extreme right which invites an even more radical war. In addition, Strelkov is a popular pro-war blogger with nearly 900,000 readers. He was arrested for appeals to extremism: despite supporting the war in Ukraineregularly and sharply criticizes the military leadership of the country and personally Vladimir Putin. Strelkov’s arrest provoked a strong public reaction and has even been called “a turning point in the political history of this war”.
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This is the first time since the beginning of the war that the Russian authorities have not arrested a liberal opponentbut an important one pro-war activist. Although recently the Kremlin it interferes more and more actively in the agenda of the “patriots” which it had previously practically not limited. Thus, in early July, le security forces they sabotaged Strelkov’s public speech in a bookstore at St.Pietroburgoand a little later they opened a case for “discrediting” the army against its close ally, the retired colonel of the GRU Vladimir Kvachkov. Kvachkov was a regular participant in Strelkov’s streams where they criticized the leadership politica and Russian military for the way war is conducted. Such pressure on right-wing leader could indicate that al Kremlin they revised the unspoken rule that allowed i Z-blogger to criticize the authorities. But Strelkov was still considered untouchable for many years, thanks to his service in the FSB and his “merits” in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine in 2014. During a year and a half of the war, the main patriot of the country allowed himself to utter much more “false” and statements that “discredited the army” than the liberal opponents who also received 7-8 years in prison for these crimes.
However, after the failed rebellion of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the situation has changed. As many observers note, the old system has stopped working. “Strelkov, of course, has long crossed all possible red lines, and the security forces (from the FSB to military commanders) were eager to arrest him,” writes the independent political analyst Tatyana Stanovaya. “One of the consequences of Prigozhin’s rebellion is that now the army has more Political power to suppress his opponents.” Moreover, Strelkov – that in the words of the Russian political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky “he was never able to prove his need in the Kremlin” – he was really raising the bar of criticism. THE “turbopatriot” they were extremely disappointed by the mild reaction of the authorities and the president to Prigozhin’s rebellion and began to speak out much more aggressively. Strelkov went on to personally criticize Putin whom he previously tried not to touch.
This is also why military correspondents reacted coldly to the news of his arrest. “Cheekily bite into the political-military vertical at a time when opposing the entire collective West is not a good idea,” wrote one of the most famous Z-channels in Russia, There. In general, the reaction of pro-war loyalists is to admit that Strelkov got himself into trouble so it would be even strange if they hadn’t come for him. Despite the fact that in the public space Strelkov was also in violent conflict with Prigozhin and that the denunciation for which he was arrested was written by a Wagner member, experts suggest not to consider Strelkov’s arrest solely as a settlement of personal accounts.
It is more a response to a long and drawn-out criticism from the right that can no longer be accepted. “After Prigozhin’s rebellion, Putin lost ground, so he needs actions that allow him to look strong,” says the political scientist and political strategist Abbas Galyamov broadcast on the Russian opposition channel Dozhd. Gallyamov believes that Putin is taking strategically disadvantageous measures to show strength. Pressuring the patriots on whom the Russian government relies in many respects, on the eve of the 2024 elections, means pushing them into opposition with one’s own hands.
Even the Russian political technologist Konstantin Kalachev remembers the upcoming presidential elections, but considers the pressure on Strelkov a part of election campaign: “Now we can talk good or nothing about Putin!” Meanwhile political scientist and senior research fellow at University College London Vladimir Pastukhov asks the question: “Okay, now they will crush Strelkov like a bug. But what to do with the thoughts that he sent? There is only one reason for this arrest: Strelkov’s ideas are becoming too popular among supporters of the regime, especially in the military and police circles”.
The opposition blogger StalinGulag believes that now the main problem is not why Strelkov was arrested. The big question now is “who is next?”. Considering himself next is another “angry patriot”, an ally of Strelkov and a former Duma deputy Viktor Alksnis. He defines what happened as “an attempt to silence the patriotic opposition” so that no one dares to dispute “that victory is just around the corner”. At the same time, the former deputy openly admits that there are no legal ways to protect Strelkov in Russia: “You cannot count on objective investigations or courts.” This is the bitter irony of Russian politics: eat all the “bloody liberals”, the machine of repression it has turned to loyalists who support war but believe the Kremlin is doing it wrong.
These days, they are, like liberal opponents once upon a time, faced with the imprisonment of their leader on implausible grounds with the threat of a long sentence (Strelkov faces up to five years in prison), at illegal detentions of demonstrators and those who came to support the accused. In front of the court several people were arrested, including one of the leaders of the Donbass “separatists” and Strelkov’s ally, Pavel Gubarev. Now he too is being investigated for extremism.
The Angry Patriots Club has already launched a public campaign in defense of political prisoner Strelkov and a hashtag #freestrelkovpainfully familiar to all supporters of Alexei Navalny. “Igor Ivanovich [Strelkov] openly and reasonably criticized the actions of government officials, and the freedom of word provided by the state testified that the country’s leadership complies with the Constitution. Today, confidence in this is undermined: we see that processes are underway in our country that testify to the estrangement of the representatives of power from fundamental values, ”the associates of Strelkov write grudgingly, defining as “cynicism off scale” the selective repression of the system that “releases criminals and puts patriots in prison”. “Did you mess up?”, they get angry.
The liberal opposition cannot help but gloat upon seeing such enlightenment in the ranks of the gods supporters of war. “The repressions against ‘patriots’ will change the attitude of this public towards Putin,” writes Gallyamov. “Hey, they will say, it shows that the opposition was right. Putin really turned out to be a tyrant it’s a dictator. He doesn’t think as much about the country as he cares about his throne. He declares a person an ‘extremist’ for speaking the truth”. Indeed, under the news of Strelkov’s arrest in Telegram, one can increasingly see comments like this: “To be honest, this is bad news. Apparently, Russia could become a dictatorship.”