Reward for capturing Russia’s Girkin, wanted for MH17 atrocity and other crimes, raised to $50,000 (UPDATED)
Militant Girkin probably went to war in Ukraine (Photo:rogue_corq/Twitter)
The reward for capturing Igor Girkin, the Russian militant who once claimed to have “pulled the trigger of war” in Ukraine’s Donbas, has been raised to $50,000.
Girkin was reported to have joined the Russian military to again take part in the war on Ukraine, with his wife Myroslava Reginska posting a photo with him in military uniform on Telegram.
Earlier, it was reported in Russian media that Girkin might be prosecuted for his comments about the Russian military’s failures in Ukraine, along with other Russian military bloggers and propagandists.
Ukrainian officials, soldiers and bloggers have pledged to pay parts of the total reward for Girkin, who is also wanted by Dutch authorities in connection with the 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, in which 298 people were killed.
Tennis player Sergiy Stakhovsky and Governor of Luhansk Oblast Serhiy Hayday are among those who have said they will pay part of the reward.
Ukrainian social activist Serhii Sternenko, meanwhile, said the reward might tempt Girkin’s comrades-in-arms to turn him in to the Ukrainian authorities.
“I wouldn't be surprised to see him brought by Buryats in the trunk of a car,” Sternenko said, referring to soldiers from the Russian Republic of Buryatia.
UPDATED, 3.10 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine or GUR announced a reward of $100,000 for the capture of Girkin, who is also know as Strelkov.
"One of the most famous Russian terrorists has decided to renew his participation in the war against our state." the press service of the GUR said, announcing the reward.
Ukraine's SBU security service and the General Prosecutor's Office have filed a number of cases against Girkin for "terrorist activities, torture, murder, and violation of state sovereignty," the GRU said.
The GUR added a number through which information can be transmitted on social networks.
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