INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A former top commander of Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, Igor Girkin, went on trial in Moscow on Thursday on charges of extremism
to topple Russia's military leadership in June.Girkin was detained in July following a series of social media posts critical of Russian
President Vladimir Putin that went out to hundreds of thousands of followers.The case against Girkin, who became an outspoken blogger, has
illustrated how any criticism of the military is off-limits, even from ardent Russian nationalists who support the conflict.The hearing,
held behind closed doors, began in Moscow on Thursday according to social media accounts curated by his supporters.Girkin, who has declared
his intention of challenging Putin in the presidential election next March, faces up to five years in prison.Supporters have said the case
against him is politically motivated.Girkin has had many lives.He was one of the pivotal figures in the pro-Kremlin insurgency that erupted
in eastern Ukraine in 2014.When Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine became a rebel stronghold, he ruled it with an iron fist, reportedly
authorizing executions for petty theft.But he was squeezed out of the separatist leadership later that year under mysterious circumstances
and returned to Russia, where he lost all influence, until the Kremlin's full-fledged assault on Ukraine began in February 2022.That same
year, he was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment by a Dutch court over the downing of Malaysia Airlines passenger flight MH17 over
Ukraine in 2014, which killed all 298 on board.Girkin returned to the spotlight after the Russian military offensive in Ukraine started,
elections next year."I consider myself more competent in military affairs than the incumbent president and certainly more competent than the
defense minister," he said when he announced his candidacy.And he piled up criticism of Putin, saying the Russian leader "had been led by
the nose" by both international leaders and national allies.Unlike Putin, Girkin said he "would not have to give in to the wishes of my
friends to the detriment of Russia's economy," referring to numerous allegations of corruption.
