Igor Girkin was once a powerful separatist leader in Donbas. Today, the 52-year-old is making headlines, primarily with sharp criticism of the Russian army leadership. In a recent interview, Girkin says that Russia cannot win the war - and indirectly names a culprit.
Russian military blogger Igor Girkin is known as one of the biggest critics of the Russian army leadership. The former "defense minister" of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" repeatedly accuses the Kremlin of being too weak in the war against Ukraine. In an interview, the hardliner has now expressed the opinion that Russia cannot win the war "in its current form". The “current leadership” is to blame for this, Girkin explained, without becoming more specific.
Girkin, who also appears in public under the pseudonym Strelkov, said in an interview with a nationalist YouTube channel that he assumes that another wave of mobilization is pending in Russia. "Simply because the fighting is continuing and the losses are increasing," said the former colonel of the GRU military intelligence service. "New people are needed."
At the same time, he said that another wave of mobilization could only aggravate the situation for Russia. "In today's situation, it is impossible to carry out a normal mobilization. People who have proven several times that they can only steal and lie to their superiors will continue to do so," he said, referring to corruption and poor care for recruits in Russia. After the "partial mobilization" proclaimed by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin in September last year, reports of numerous mishaps and mistakes piled up. Several cases have been documented in which men were drafted despite health problems. In addition, numerous recruits reported missing equipment. Hundreds of thousands of people fled abroad.
With a view to possible peace negotiations with Ukraine, the former Donetsk separatist leader said in an interview: "There will be no new Minsk agreement as long as we lose this war. And at the moment we are losing this war. Unfortunately, that has to be said." The Minsk Agreement was concluded in 2015 in the Belarusian capital with Franco-German mediation between Russia and Ukraine. The aim was to pacify the east of Ukraine, which was already under Russian influence. Most of the commitments were never implemented.
In the early months of the full-scale war, "we had a good chance of winning," Girkin said. "But now we're losing, we're retiring." Girkin does not see the current Russian offensive in the Donbas as promising. A few weeks ago, the Russians had captured the strategically important city of Soledar. But even if the fiercely contested cities of Bakhmut and Siwersk were also taken - "all of that is nothing compared to giving up Cherson," complains Girkin. Kherson has been the only Ukrainian regional capital that Russia has captured since the invasion began in February last year. She was liberated by Ukrainian forces in November.
Girkin concludes in the interview that "Russia cannot win in its current form". "Without taking action, Russia cannot win. It can only prolong hostilities indefinitely," said the 52-year-old. He didn't explain what measures he thought should be taken, but indirectly named the culprit for the military failures: "Russia cannot win under the current leadership."
