Updated 00.44 | Published 00.40
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He wants more war.
But less Putin.
Now he is standing in the presidential election to “save Russia from civil war”.
The former top man in the federal security service FSB Igor Girkin states in a post published on Telegram that he is challenging Putin in the elections in March next year, writes Reuters.
Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov, believes that Russia is facing a revolution and possibly even civil war if Putin’s war against Ukraine is not waged more effectively.
Want to destroy for the Kremlin
However, he realizes that the road to the presidential palace in Moscow is to say the least crooked.
Girkin is already in custody awaiting trial for “inciting extremism”.
But he sees other problems as well.
“I understand very well that in today’s situation in Russia, a presidential election campaign is like sitting down at a table and playing cards with cheaters,” writes Girkin according to Reuters.
However, he hopes to continue to be a thorn in Putin’s side and destroy the Kremlin.
“This is our chance to unite against internal and external threats,” says Girkin.
Putin remains until 2030
He believes that the outcome could mean that the regime’s plan for a “fraudulent election” where “the winner is chosen in advance” comes to nothing.
Kremlin spokesman Dimitriy Peskov said this weekend that he “hopes” that Putin will stand in the presidential election.
A win means he will retain power until at least 2030.
Russia has cracked down on nationalist critics who want to see tougher measures in the war since the failed coup attempt in June when Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led a force against Moscow.
Prigozhin himself died in a mysterious plane crash a few months after the coup attempt.
Girkin was arrested in July. Last spring, he founded the group “Angry Patriots Club” which entered politics to “prevent the collapse of Russia”.
“Facing Disaster”
– A structural crisis is bubbling in Russia. The temperature in society is rising. We are facing very serious political changes of catastrophic proportions, Girkin said at the time.
The former security officer is no angel of peace. He was involved in the 2014 annexation of Crimea and has organized pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine since.
Girkin says he does not recognize Ukraine as an independent state.
He was convicted by a Dutch court in absentia of participating in the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014.
Girkin has denied any involvement in the crime that killed 298 people.