Russia allegedly opens investigation into Igor Strelkov
According to Igor Strelkov (a.k.a. Igor Girkin), two people, claiming to be representatives of the Russian police, came to his mother's home and inquired about him.
"Is there a limit to human idiocy? Today [April 22] two 'policemen' came to my mother and stated that I killed 2 people in Saint Petersburg and that a police report was filed against me. They made my mother sign a document stating that she hadn't seen me" he wrote on his VKontakte page (Russian social network).
Strelkov said that this looks more like an intimidation campaign against him and if there really was a case against him the police would have come to his office.
Strelkov went as far as to accuse Surkov* and Boroday* of conducting a smear campaign against him.
"First they called my ex-wives, offered them money for discrediting me. One had agreed and was working hard on doing this. The other one didn't. So now they decided to use 'heavy artillery'," stated Strelkov
In March, Russian media reported that Russian lawyer Arkadiy Chapligin submitted a report to the Russian police asking to open an investigation into Igor Strelkov's activities during the seizure of Slavyansk* by his military unit.
The report was submitted after Strelokv's public statement where he acknowledged ordering the execution of four people in Slavyansk. If these accusations are proven to be true by the court, Strelkov could receive a sentence of up to 20 years of imprisonment.
At this point it is not known if the police visit to Strelkov’s residence is related to the police report previously submitted against him for his activities in Slavyansk.
Strelkov is a Russian army veteran who played a key role in the early stages of the war in eastern Ukraine. Authorities in Kiev say that the self-described Russian nationalist and imperialist is a retired colonel of the GRU (Russia’s external military intelligence organization). Strelkov was dismissed as Defense Minister of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic in August of 2014.
Many believe his dismissal was due to the amount of attention caused by the downing of Mayalsian Airlines flight MH17 and the negative impact on Russia's actions in Ukraine that it caused.
Vladislav Surkov is personal adviser of Vladimir Putin on relationships with Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Ukraine.
Alexander Borodai is a former Prime Minister of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic
Slavyansk - The city was one of the focal points in the early stages of the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine