Former top terrorist leader urged Russia to admit it is fighting a war against Ukraine

byUkrayinska Pravda

09/01/2015

2 minute read

Igor “Strelkov” Girkin, commander and self-proclaimed minister of Defense of so the called “Donetsk People’s Republic” (Image: AFP/ ALEXANDER KHUDOTEPLY)

Former top terrorist leader urged Russia to admit it is fighting a war against Ukraine

Igor "Strelkov" Girkin, the former leader of Russian terrorists in Donetsk, urged Russia not "to keep head in the sand" and admit that it is fighting a war against Ukraine.

He said this in an interview with the separatist news agency ANA News.

"We are already at war. It is possible to keep the head in the sand longer, but the country from which volunteers--volunteers for now--leave for a war, and where they are allowed to go to the war, where they are given weapons, where they receive ammunition, that is already a country at war," - said Girkin.

He added that "we are fighting very oddly: we supply our enemy with coal and electricity."

"But we had the same situation in Bosnia" - shared Girkin.

Translator's Note: Igor "Strelkov" Girkin is a Russian citizen from Moscow area who played a key role in Russia's War in Donbas, Ukraine as an organizer of "Donetsk People's Republic" insurgency and its first "minister of defense." Girkin, a Russian nationalist and veteran of several other conflicts, was charged by Ukraine authorities with terrorism and is currently sanctioned by the European Union for his leading role in the insurgency in eastern Ukraine. By his own admission, he served in the Russian FSB (federal security service, formerly KGB) until March 2013. Ukrainian and EU authorities have identified him as a retired colonel of the GRU (Russia's military intelligence directorate) who participated in the 2014 Crimea annexation by Russia.