Igor Girkin was the most prominent leader of Russian-backed separatist fighters in Ukraine's Donetsk region in 2014.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Moscow City Court on Thursday convicted a former Ukraine rebel leader who called President Vladimir Putin cowardly, and sentenced him to four years in prison.
Igor Girkin, who used the surname alias "Strelkov" ("shooter"), was the most prominent leader of Russian-backed separatist fighters in Ukraine's Donetsk region in 2014, where violence broke out after the ouster of Ukraine's Russia-allied president.
Girkin briefly became the self-declared separatist government's defence minister, but left the post in August 2014 after rebel forces shot down a Malaysian passenger airliner over Donetsk, killing all 298 people aboard.
He was convicted in absentia of murder in the Netherlands, where the flight had originated, because of his role in the incident.
Girkin then returned to Russia and became a nationalist commentator and activist. He supported launching Russia's war in Ukraine, but sharply criticised authorities for being inept and indecisive in carrying out the fight – last year going so far as to call Putin a "nonentity" and a person of "cowardly mediocrity".
He was arrested in July on extremism charges, and has been in custody since then.
The conviction reflects the high sensitivity of Russian authorities to criticism and opposition as the war in Ukraine drags on.
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the government passed laws criminalising statements and news reports discrediting the Russian military.
Girkin's sentence is considerably less harsh than those handed to some figures who have denounced the war, notably opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, who has been sentenced to 25 years' incarceration.
A court in St. Petersburg is expected to shortly announce its verdict in the trial of a woman charged in the 2023 bombing at a cafe that killed a prominent Russian military blogger.
Darya Trepova, 26, is charged with carrying out a terrorist attack, illegal trafficking of explosive devices and forging documents in the April 2023 blast at the cafe, which killed Vladlen Tatarsky and injured 52 others.
She was arrested shortly after the bombing. Prosecutors have asked for a sentence of 28 years.