Law enforcement authorities detained pro-war blog writer Mikhail Polynkov in Moscow, Russian media reported on Wednesday.Polynkov, a close associate of jailed ex-separatist leader Igor Girkin, runs the Telegram channelSoldiers Truth and has actually been described in media reports asa employer of foreign fighters for pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.He supposedly held an agreement with the Russian Defense Ministry till August 2023, when he was asked to resign after slamming President Vladimir Putin.
The ministry ultimately reassigned him to another system that November, according to the news site RBC.Federal Security Service (FSB) representatives jailed Polynkov in Moscow and moved him to a military investigative office, his legal representative stated.
He deals with criminal charges of desertion, confidential police sources informed the state-run news agency TASS.Polynkov, writing on his Telegram channel early Wednesday, suggested the arrest was retaliation for having actually slammed pro-Kremlin television host Vladimir Solovyov for his support of Israel in its war against Iran.RBC and TASS identified Polynkov as deputy chairman of the Russian Strelkov Movement, a nationalist group led by Girkin.
The movement stated Polynkov had worked to locate Russian soldiers missing in action in Ukraine, recommending that those activities may have triggered authorities to arrest him.Girkin, better known by his nom de guerre Igor Strelkov, commanded separatist forces in eastern Ukraine in 2014 and was sentenced in absentia by a Dutch court in 2022 to life in prison for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.In 2023, a Russian court sentenced Girkin to four years in prison for prompting extremism after he slammed Putins dealing with of the major invasion against Ukraine.A Message from The Moscow Times: Dear readers, We are dealing with extraordinary obstacles.
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