When we said goodbye, Alexei Mozgovoi remembered that an hour before our arrival was on the phone with the legendary commander of the militia DND, Igor Strelkov: ‘He said to me: “As soon as you have something to start, reserve me a place in some small unit.” He is ready to come back even an ordinary fighter and join the ranks. I hope he will not mind that I gave away this secret.’
– Steshin & Kots, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Oct 23 2014 07:28
I am sure you can imagine that the conservative idealists at the “Secret Forum” are absolutely livid about the below, because it treats Strelkov not like a saint descended from heaven with the sparkly sun through the misty clouds of yore, but like a venal politician, which is what he will inevitably become, but with an added dose of nauseous Christian hypocrisy:
Strelkov aims to enter politics
Vladimir Dergachev, Gazeta.ru, Oct 23 2014
Former self-proclaimed commander-in-chief of the Donetsk National Republic Igor Strelkov and his team intend in the near future to engage in public politics. This was reported by two sources from among nationalists, leading negotiations with his surroundings. “Gazeta.ru” traced the path of Strelkov from Chechnya to Slavyansk and tried to assess its prospects on the Russian political scene. One of the sources told Gazeta.ru:
Strelkov and his team are considering different ways of positioning him. Enough time has passed since his departure from the Donbass, and there is a risk that he will start to be forgotten. Now his entourage made a new website, and the ex-commander-in-chief issued a response to the program of Khodorkovsky, in fact, his political Manifesto. In the near future Strelkov will be making a statement on public policy.
The interviewee said that among the nationalists was the idea to bring the ex-commander to rally “the Battle of Donbass”, and to offer him to lead the “Russian March for Novorossia” on Nov 4 (banned – RB). However, meanwhile Strelkov prefer to visit other events. The last time he was seen in public, when he recorded the anthem of Novorossia performed with Victoria Tsiganov. Head of the Popular front of Novorossia” Oleg Tsarev says:
I shook hands with him, just shook hands. But it was the wrong format to talk, around people, music, so we never talked. I don’t know anything about his plans.
Before Strelkov was seen in the monasteries in the Ryazan region, notably the Balaam monastery. The leader of the “Russian Spring” (sic – RB) prefers to stay in the background and periodically sparingly to comment on current agenda on his new website igorstrelkov.ru. Until then, his statements have been spread through bloggers close to him, as well as on the website of reconstructured forum-antikvariat.ru. A person from the inner circle of the former commander-in-chief is considered to be the blogger Anatoly Nesmiyan, who writes under the nickname El Murid. For the near future is preparing a communication, a former commander with the media, which for unknown reasons was postponed several times already. A press conference will be in early next week and specifies its format, says Nesmiyan. According to him, is not really about politics:
Politics is the struggle for power, and he refuses to run for Parliament, to fight for positions. Rather, he intends to engage in public activities.
The coordinator of the non-humanitarian aid to the DND, Alexander Zuckowski, says:
Now the people with whom Strelkov fought with in Slavyansk, are with him in Russia. They help Novorossia with supplies of uniforms and humanitarian aid, and on the other hand agree with the Russian law enforcers about the interaction. The whole team is committed to give a fresh breath of Novorossia, “Strelkov”. (sic – RB)
Igor Strelkov, passport Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, is a native of Moscow, and a veteran of the conflicts in Chechnya, Transnistria and Bosnia. He is also fond of historical reconstructions and holds monarchist views. The Ukrainian authoritieshave called Strelkov an agent of the Russian secret services, “a warrant officer of the FSB” and “a GRU Colonel”. Strelkov himself confirmed at a conference in Donetsk that previously served in the FSB and retired in the rank of Colonel sometime in the 1990s. According to some facts, after retirement he worked as a security chief for the investment fund Marshall Capital, owned by the Russian Orthodox businessman and creator of a number of patriotic media projects (in particular, Den TV) Konstantin Malofeev. Malofeev argued that the Fund was not a security service. (Сам Малофеев утверждал, что у инвестфонда не было службы безопасности.) Sources say that Malofeev is in active contact with Strelkov. According to our sources, in the Crimea and the Donbass, many also worked close to Malofeev political. At the same time, sources at the Marshall Capital denied any connection between Malofeev and the team of Igor Strelkov. They also stressed that Igor Strelkov not going to go into politics. Their press service said:
So the question for Konstantin Valerievich (Malofeev) may not be considered timely. Igor Ivanovich confirms it himself.
They attached to the reply the link to an interview with Strelkov in which he says that he is not interested in “politics in the classical sense (that is, in order to achieve power,” although he says he has received “tempting offers” regarding participation in the elections to the state Duma. Ex-consultant at Marshall Capital”, ideologist of the “Russian Spring” and active participant of the events in the Crimea and Donbass, former head of the DND Alexander Boroday repeatedly referred to himself as another Strelkov. They both fought in Transnistria, in the 1990s he worked for Alexander Prokhanov’s newspaper “Zavtra”, and together Boroday and Strelkov participated in the preparation of the Crimean referendum. Fans of the idea of the “Russian spring” believe that one of the most heroic episodes in the recent biography of Strelkov was the uprising in Slavyansk, which he headed. Thanks to promotion in nationalist circles and frequent occurrence in the Russian state media, Strelkov has become a real icon of the separatists. Posters featuring him created by the staff of the magazine “Sputnik and Pogrom” were hung on the roads around the city. Then, while in Slavyansk, Strelkov had hoped for the help of the Russian military in the organization of a breakthrough in the direction of Kharkov, according to sources in the breakaway republics. However, his hopes were not destined to come true. On Jul 5, the city was surrendered to Ukrainian troops. The militia forces retreated with minimal losses to another stronghold of the resistance, Donetsk, where Strelkov was involved in the purge of people associated with the oligarch Rinat Akhmetov and Kiev. In particular, from Donetsk were extruded the head of the militia “Vostok” Alexander Khodakovsky and mayor Alexander Lukyanchenko.
In August, Boroday resigned from the post of Prime Minister to the post of adviser, followed, on Aug 14, by Strelkov leaving the post of Defense Minister. This happened shortly after the arrival in Donetsk of political scientist Sergei Kurginyan, who criticized Strelkov for “surrendering Slavyansk to the Ukrainian fascists.” Strelkov and sources in the militia said that the reason for the resignation was an ultimatum from the Russian authorities, who offered delivery of humanitarian and other assistance to the self-proclaimed republics only on condition of his resignation. Some sources tied his resignation to the fact that he is too independent and ideological, and in particular shared the views of white monarchists, and his Deputy Igor Ivanov is a member of the white ROVs, despising the Russian authorities no less than the Ukrainian ones. Strelkov interrupted his long silence after his retirement and move to Moscow only at the end of August, when blogger Anatoly Nesmiyan published an article “of unknown authorship” in which the author describes events in the east of Ukraine in the spirit of the fairy tales of Arkady Gaidar about Malkish and Plokish: he compares Putin with the hero, Malkish Kibalkish, and Surkov with Malkish Plokish, who behind Malkish Kibalkish’s back undermines Novorossia. The essence of this text, and subsequent performances by Strelkov, is that behind President Vladimir Putin’s back are “the fifth and sixth columns” (the liberal opposition and the liberal environment of Putin) who seek to “merge Novorossia” by means of the “shameful Minsk agreements.” The main object of criticism is the assistant to Putin on Ukraine, Vladislav Surkov, and those close to him, according to the former commander-in-chief, and also the present PMs of DND and LNR, Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky. Strelkov believes that they want to negotiate with Ukraine and the oligarchs and thus to reduce to zero all the military achievements of the pro-Russian separatists. Interestingly, Zakharchenko is accused not only of having links with Surkov, but also of being in direct contact with the oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. One of the candidates for the post of Prime Minister DND said “what about it in the republics say all.” The solution Strelkov proposes to all problems, judging by his Manifesto, is the purge of the liberal team around Putin and building of “a socially-oriented state based on Christian values.” He proposes to develop a defense to confront the “Euro-Atlantic Usaian dominance” and to rally around the state, the Russian Orthodox Church and Putin. He writes:
The global financial oligarchy, the priests of Mammon, putting themselves in the place of God, and in His Name controlling the destinies of the world, are lost in the jungle. Usaian hegemony is collapsing like a colossus with feet of clay.
Militiaman Zuckowski says:
Before the war, his thinking was much more oppositional. Now the situation has become radicalized, he speaks from the position of the incumbent officer. He is a great statesman, although he holds white monarchist opposition views.
Figures left in his debt criticize Strelkov. In an interview with the magazine “Russian Reporter”, PM DND Alexander Zakharchenko said some more than severe things:
We were with Strelkov, Boroday and I. And we argued very vigorously with him about surrendering Slavyansk. We had just a wild scandal. And before we left, I uttered the phrase: “You, Igor, smell differently for us… Because to me… to destroy a nine storey building on the outskirts of Donetsk is a grotesque idea.” According to Zakharchenko, Strelkov wanted to blow up the building, “because, in his opinion, it would be easier for us to defend ourselves in its ruins. Because he doesn’t live here.”
And one of the leaders of the pro-Russian separatists complained that Strelkov had deserted his people in Slavyansk before the entry of the Ukrainian troops:
Several hundred people woke up in the night and saw that everything was gone. The Ukrainian army entered the city, and the guys rubbed the bruises and calluses left by the straps of the Kalash from their shoulders and fingers.
According to him, the Ukrainian army took prisoner and tortured many of the militiamen, who had not managed to flee. People considered in Donbass to be “Strelkovites” were subjected to purges after the departure of Boroday and Strelkov, and many of them lost their positions, says Jackowski. The political perspectives and preferences of Strelkov are unclear. In one of his last speeches, he said that he was offered a chance to be elected to the Duma, but he treated it with skepticism. If the “Eurasian” speech of Strelkov is not to the taste of many of his fans, nevertheless the moral authority of the former commander-in-chief remains high in the eyes of the commanders in the Donbass. For some of them, for example Lugansk commanders Alexei Mozgovoi and Paul Autors, he remains a symbol of the idea of war with Ukraine until the end and independence, including, perhaps, of control from Moscow. ‘Director of the Center for political conjuncture’ Alexei Chesnakov believes that without a clear understanding of the political format which will work for Strelkov, predicting his future is pointless. He says:
From the point of view of skills of public discussion and the ability to clearly express a political position, it is clear that he is a very “specific” speaker. It’s a fact. Civilized public politics cannot be based solely on one’s military career. Politics assumes the competence of people without firearms.
A source in the structures of the self-proclaimed republics said that the problems of Strelkov are compounded by his connection with the team of Malofeev. According to this view, innuendo about relations with the businessman could jeopardize the project’s public positioning itself. MGIMO Professor Valery Solovyev does not agree with this. The prospects of ex-commander-in-chief, in his opinion, can be “very good and even brilliant,” but under two conditions:
First, that the Kremlin does not interfere actively with Strelkov. But as far as I know, he is seen as an enemy by the presidential administration. They don’t believe his surface message of loyalty to Putin. They think a too transparent scenario is now being played out: “Putin, you should appoint me as your successor!” They think he flaunts his loyalty to Putin too deliberately. Secondly, he must present society with a competently crafted message, whether produced by himself alone or with the help of his advisors, I still think that Strelkov is smarter than the nonsense which emanated from him last month. But if he won’t change his discourse, so to speak, I don’t think he’ll have a chance.
Niqnaq 