Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin, also known by the alias Igor Ivanovich Strelkov, is a Russian political prisoner, army veteran and former Federal Security Service (FSB) officer who played a key role in the Russian annexation of Crimea, and then in the Donbas War as an organizer of militant groups in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
Girkin in 2015
Personality Identification Playing Card of Igor "Strelkov"
Girkin in April 2023 at the funeral of a Russian volunteer and ex-Russian Wikipedia editor, Vadim Sokolov.
Girkin (left) during a military reenactment
Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation
In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signs the treaty of accession (annexation) with Crimean leaders in Moscow, 18 March 2014.
Euromaidan in Kyiv, 11 December 2013
"Crimean self-defence forces", 2 March 2014
A pro-Ukrainian demonstration in Simferopol (Ukrainian flag on the left, Crimean Tatar flag on the right) during the Russian military intervention in Crimea, 9 March 2014
