RFE/RL's Anna Shamanska has been looking at some disturbing things that former separatist leader Igor Girkin (aka Igor Strelkov) said in radio interview recently.
Former Commander Of Pro-Russian Separatists Says He Executed People Based On Stalin-Era Laws
For most of his 42-minute appearance on a radio talk show, former Russia-backed separatist commander Igor Girkin sounded like nothing more than a fanatic discussing a dream now widely dismissed as fantasy.
He spoke of hopes for the creation of a "Novorossia" -- a New Russia stretching across much of Ukraine, from Kharkiv to Odesa, and one day joining a Russian empire including all of Belarus and Ukraine.
It wasn't until the last minute that the interview with Girkin went from surreal to chilling.
Referring to his time commanding separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk in 2014, a host asks him how he stopped the rampant looting.
"With executions," Girkin said matter-of-factly.
According to Girkin, separatist "authorities" installed a military court and introduced 1941 military laws implemented by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
"Under this legislation we tried people and executed the convicted," Girkin said.
"While I was in Slovyansk four people were executed. Two among the military for looting, one local for looting, and one for killing a serviceman," he said on the Radio Komsomolskaya Pravda, which is affiliated with a leading pro-Kremlin Russian tabloid.
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RFE/RL's Tony Wesolowsky has filed this report on what's happeing with the Crimea blockade:
Tatar Leader Vows Crimea Blockade Will Continue
A leading Crimean Tatar activist has vowed that a months-long, civilian-led blockade of the annexed peninsula will continue until it is freed from Kremlin control, stressing that only concrete action can be effective.
"We showed the Tatars in Crimea, Ukrainians, and all pro-Ukrainian people that there is a genuine movement under way to free Crimea," explained Lenur Islyamov to RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir Service in a video interview.
Crimean Tatars have been at the forefront of an independent campaign to push for the peninsula’s return to Ukrainian rule after it was seized by Russia in March 2014.
The Crimean Tatars and other groups have blocked road links from mainland Ukraine to Crimea since September and are suspected of blowing up electricity pylons in November, disrupting power supplies from Ukraine to the peninsula for weeks. The incident heightened tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, with Russia retaliating by cutting off coal exports to Ukraine.
The blockade has also meant hardship for much of the peninsula's 2.3 million people, about 250,000 of whom are Crimean Tatars whose presence on the peninsula date back centuries. Amid shortages of basic items, including food, some are questioning whether the strategy could backfire and make enemies of potential allies.
However, Islyamov, a former deputy prime minister of Crimea, while acknowledging the blockade “may be harsh in some ways,” is insistent that it should continue.
“Crimea is the land of the Crimean Tatars. It is our land," he said. "Therefore, when we organize an economic blockade, or an energy blockade, we are completely within our rights. We are Crimean Tatars. Crimea is our land."
Read the entire article here
We are now closing the live blog for today. Until we resume again tomorrow morning, you can keep up with all our other Ukraine coverage here.