Igor Girkin, MH17 | Igor Girkin was captured and arrested

Russian authorities are set to arrest well-known Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, also known as Igor Strelkov.

He was sentenced to life in prison in a Dutch court last year for being behind the downing of passenger plane MH17 over Ukraine in 2014. All 298 people on board were killed.

Girkin did not even appear at the Dutch trial, and Russia denied any involvement in the downing of the plane, despite strong evidence that the plane was a Russian weapon.

Both Russian news site RBC and Telegram channel a basewhich has close ties to the Russian security services, reported this on Friday afternoon.

He was Putin’s man in Donetsk – and now he’s settling down

Strelkov is said to have been arrested and taken into custody, but it is not known why.

Central to the Russian annexation of Crimea, Girkin was a former FSB officer. The FSB is Russia’s successor to the KGB, the Soviet security police. He was also at one time the Minister of Defense of the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic”.

Girkin has been a vocal critic of the war in Ukraine, and believes Russia is not doing enough to win the war.

Russian news agency palm He confirms that Girkin was arrested in Moscow on Friday. He is accused of “extremism”.

There is currently complete confusion about the whereabouts of the Girkin. His lawyer tells the Russian newspaper Vedomosti that he does not know where Jerkin is, or exactly what he is accused of.

Igor Zhekrin has 875,000 followers on Telegram, and is one of the largest military bloggers in Russia. His wife posted a message on Jerkin’s account on Friday, writing that the man had been arrested. She doesn’t know where he is.