Who is Strelkov? Igor Girkin (Strelkov): biography, personal life Where is Girkin now.

The political steps of Igor Strelkov (Girkin) in creating the strangest “Committee of January 25” caused natural bewilderment in Russia. They also brought to life a text dedicated to the life path of the former commander of the Slavic defense of the fourteenth year, signed by people who knew him well, who were familiar with other people who came across Strelkov, apparently, at different points in his life. We publish the text without changes, completely preserving the title, style and spelling of the authors, whose names, by the way, are well known in the Donbass.

On February 10, the 2nd meeting of the now “January 25 Committee” took place. Former “Minister of Defense of the DPR” Igor Girkin (Strelkov), together with Eduard Limonov and a group of marginal nationalist figures, announced the creation of the “January 25 Committee,” a new political organization similar to a club of provocateurs. How did Girkin, whose glory during the defense of Slavyansk in 2014 was heroic, and after its surrender by Igor Ivanovich under not entirely clear circumstances, quickly slipped into the role of a petty clique trying to harm both the cause for which he supposedly fought and his ex comrades? How do such changes happen to people? And is this change? For the first time, materials for the biography and psychological portrait of Igor Girkin are published, which explain a lot in this story.

Childhood

Igor Vsevolodovich Girkin was born into a middle-class family, in the residential Moscow district of Bibirevo. The family soon became incomplete - the father left his very nervous (hysterical, overprotective) wife Alla Ivanovna. Igor's older sister is a failed artist.

Igor was an extremely sick boy, in his class he played the role of an outcast, downtrodden quiet person; children's groups are often cruel and unerringly find the weak - the victim. Since childhood, I have not been able to build relationships not only with boys, but also with girls. He was afraid of any form of physical contact that might cause pain, even in the form of playful fights at recess. He was shy and avoided girls, and, like many “quiet” boys, he was prone to a literary-exalted idea of ​​the “weaker sex”, which, of course, his real classmates did not correspond to. Already in adulthood, this complex is easily read in his published personal correspondence, where the enthusiastic romanticization of women is combined with resentment and cruelty.

What saved Igor from the risk of becoming a maniac, a petty family sadist, or teenage suicide was his passion first for military history, and then, respectively, for Russian imperial history and Orthodoxy. He began to perceive his suffering as bearing a cross for a holy cause. But, apparently, the primary motivation for turning to paramilitary themes was the sublimation of the inferiority complex of a sickly, downtrodden teenager.

In 1990, Igor joined the movement of military-historical reconstruction, the club was the Moscow Dragoon Regiment. But due to politicization, he gravitates more towards the period of the Civil War, identifying himself with an officer of the Drozdovsky regiment of the Volunteer Army. The choice of this particular regiment out of all the possible ones also characterizes Igor’s personality - the “corporate style” of the Drozdovites was pessimism, skepticism, a “rotten” facial expression, abuse of cocaine, and external manifestations of syphilis. A kind of White Guard decadence.

The beginning of a career as a provocateur

However, due to communication problems, Igor does not enjoy authority among his fellow hobbyists; he is again rejected by the usually tough male group. Igor endures numerous ridicule.

After August 1991, Igor comes to the attention of KGB officers who are forming combat groups to overthrow the Yeltsin regime (or depicting this process to account for and control “radical patriots”). Forms his own cell, becoming its leader, guards the “red-brown” rallies in the fall of 1991 - winter of 1992.

However, it soon becomes clear that there will be no revolution now; Girkin becomes disillusioned, including with the “fighters” of his cell, who are tired of endlessly playing conspiracy.

At the same time, he entered the Institute of History and Archives, Faculty of Archives. Again, a pessimistic life prospect emerges clearly - the “archive rat”, the sublimation of complexes by dressing in a White Guard uniform.

First wars

However, in the spring of 1992, a conflict began in Transnistria. Igor sees a chance to go to a real war. And in general, realize yourself as a person. In Bendery, he ends up as an ordinary rifleman in one of the platoons of the Black Sea Cossack Army. His stay occurred at the end of June - July 1992, when the fighting in Bendery was already of a positional nature. That is, without receiving full-fledged combat experience, he, nevertheless, actually visited a real combat situation and became stronger in the opinion that he was right in his perception of the world - he is a warrior from God. And now he will show in the abstract to all those who mocked him what he is really worth, and that he has proven that he is much “cooler than all the louts who laughed at him.”

Upon returning to Moscow, he graduates from college, but can no longer work in his specialty - he needs war (or rather its atmosphere), only there he feels complete. Quite a lot of people find themselves in a similar situation - then they actively recruit volunteers for Karabakh, Abkhazia and Bosnia.

Girkin leaves for Bosnia for six months. He commands a mortar crew (although he then says that it is a battery; in this case, it was a battery of one mortar). Again - a real war and again he does not face the enemy face to face, the fear of direct confrontation formed since childhood continues.

Upon his return, Girkin plunges into the monarchist movement. He already enjoys a certain authority as a veteran (among purely civilian monarchists).

However, in the spring of 1993 he was drafted into the army. There is already trouble in Chechnya, and he asks to serve there, even brings a box of vodka to the military registration and enlistment office, but the military commissar, taking into account his state of health, sends him to an air defense unit in the Moscow region. Where Girkin endures all the hardships of hazing for a year, in fact, in the position of “lowered” (adjusted for the lack of homosexual contacts, at least there is no information about them).

Thus, the official military system deals a severe blow to Girkin’s psyche. After all, he asked to go to the front line, has combat experience - and he was humiliated in every way. So, in addition to the previous complexes, a new one is being formed - hostility and distrust towards the regular military, a hidden understanding that he cannot be equal to them, jealousy, disdain - an explosive cocktail, which is expressed in a tendency to insubordination, which will fully manifest itself in the Donbass.

However, with all his disgust for the military system, he still does not see himself outside the war, and in 1995 he went to serve under a contract in Chechnya, in the self-propelled artillery (Akatsia). He fights as a loader, then as a gunner - again combat operations in the absence of contact with the enemy.

Then - again the monarchist party in the capital, other patriotic circles. During this period, he met Alexander Borodai, the future prime minister of the DPR.

Girkin is not satisfied with talk, he strives to do at least some applied things, to form combat groups, in the hope that when power collapses, he will hang the enemies of the Motherland and take power. As a result, according to rumors, he turns out to be a recruited agent of one of the intelligence services and is engaged in informing against his comrades.

Almost simultaneously, he quickly marries, “on the fly,” as often happens with men who have remained virgins for a long time. The child is born with genetic abnormalities, and even then suspicions arise that this is Igor’s heredity, but he does not want to hear about it, he categorically refuses to undergo examination, and blames his wife for everything. As a result, a scandalous divorce occurs; Girkin prefers to forget about the “unsuccessful” child.

During the first three years of his service, he actively destroys his own comrades by conviction, transferring his previously secret activities to a professional basis. This inconvenient fact leaves his consciousness: partly he is blinded by the fact that he is now a real officer, with a uniform (that is, finally equal to those who bullied him), partly - he is contemptuous of many of his former comrades, believing that only he himself is the standard of a Russian patriot, and all means are good to increase his influence.

He is actually building a career not on the model of the White Guard officers, but on the model of Yevno Azef, a double agent, provocateur, working both for the special services and for the conspirators. Obviously, he cannot admit this to himself.

The fate of a sadist

The complexes are multiplying and overlapping each other: on the one hand, Girkin has finally officially entered the coveted caste, on the other, he feels himself behind enemy lines, having not abandoned plans to defeat the hated regime.

In 1999, he asked for an appointment to serve in the CTO zone in the North Caucasus. And he spends the next five years there.

His professional skills as a counterintelligence agent, according to a number of reviews, are extremely questionable, but he is characterized by pathological cruelty and sadistic methods of interrogation, as a result of which he receives “operational information.”

There is a story that in the course of implementing unverified information, Girkin organized the shooting of a cafe with visitors who were not involved in terrorists. The military prosecutor's office conducted an investigation, during which Girkin was removed from the staff.

Then, while in operational and military circles in the CTO zone, the call sign “Strelok” appears (previously, Girkin signed his military prose in the form of notes about Bosnia with the pseudonym “Igor Strelkov”).

The story of Igor’s second marriage takes place in Chechnya. He falls in love with a Chechen translator, 23-year-old Vera, who is married to a local policeman. Girkin organizes the detention and subsequent imprisonment of Vera’s husband, and takes the woman to his place, an act in the style of a cruel parody of the Caucasian traditions of bride kidnapping, “Caucasian Captive”. Vera's first marriage was never dissolved.

Amusing wound

A tendency begins to emerge - unpreparedness for equal relationships with women, the need to sublimate the inferiority complex, to dominate in relationships, hence the choice of an obviously younger and intellectually undeveloped, but attractive girl.

This marriage will produce two children, boys, both with genetic diseases. It will become obvious to everyone I know that the reason is Igor, for him the topic will be taboo, he will divorce Vera, and he will not actually provide help to the children.

The divorce occurred several years after returning from Chechnya to Moscow. The realities of existence in the central apparatus of the FSB DBT - the inability to maintain a career, and at least equal relations with colleagues, lack of money, disappointment in his wife and children - all this leads Girkin to an extremely depressed state, he begins to drink decently and systematically (although before the age of 30, in general didn't drink).

At the service he again oversees the patriotic movement. At times he tries to use official opportunities to work for strangers, however, when he finds himself in a difficult situation that threatens publicity and punishment, he panics and refuses everyone.

There are only two outlets left: military-historical reconstruction and “literary creativity.” He is writing a book of romantic fairy tales for children.

He throws himself into reconstruction, spending all his money on this not-so-cheap hobby. In addition to the uniform from the period of the Patriotic War of 1812 and the Civil War, which he had previously, he wears a uniform from the Second World War, creates a machine gun club, and purchases several models of Maxim machine guns. Also acquires Roman legionary armor.

In the summer of 2007, under tragicomic circumstances, he received a “wound” - damage to his lower leg from a shell fragment that exploded directly under the fire pit in the camp of Girkin and his comrades, who had come to excavate battle sites in the Novgorod region (the so-called “Myasnoy Bor”). The old friend who took him out of the forest has since not wanted to communicate with him, citing Girkin’s “womanish behavior” as the reason for his refusal.

Girkin is delivered to Moscow by Boroday's specially sent driver; by this point, Girkin and Boroday are already long-time friends, but Girkin is developing another mania - rivalry with Boroday. The penniless Girkin receives regular assistance from Boroday, but behind his back he calls him a slippery businessman and a man who exchanged an idea for money. Borodai moves in political circles, but Girkin considers himself much more worthy for political activity.

At the beginning of 2013, Girkin actually came to a crisis. He is fired “without the right to wear a uniform.” The reason is that he was not tested by a psychologist (according to close people, he attacked the specialist with his fists, not wanting to answer questions about his sex life). Naturally, Girkin claims that the testing was rigged by Russia’s enemies and Western intelligence agencies.

Soon, Girkin’s old acquaintances call Boroday and ask him to place Girkin somewhere, otherwise he will become a drunkard. As a result, Borodai arranges for him to be the head of the security service of Konstantin Malofeev (the second time, at first Malofeev really doesn’t like Girkin).

Then the story begins with the tour of the Gifts of the Magi, Girkin ensures the safety of shrines in Kyiv and Crimea, and preparations for the Crimean Spring begin.

Russian spring

As soon as the adrenaline subsides after the forced march to Slavyansk and the occupation of the city, Girkin begins to experience ever-increasing stress. It consists of several factors:

Self-indulgence, the feeling of being a leader and commander, which is strongly fueled by the curtseys of the locals, who see in him the commander of the lead detachment of the Russian Army

The need to communicate with a large number of people, manage them, make decisions, and at least adequately respond to curtseys

A terrible fear of physical pain and death (in fact, for the first time he finds himself on the front line, with the prospect of encirclement and the unfolding of large-scale hostilities (which really begin soon)

As a result, Girkin locks himself in the SBU premises and the adjacent laundry building, and builds communication with others according to the principle of “Goodwin the Great and Terrible”: a minimum of direct contacts, monosyllabic meaningful answers, relatively normal communication only with a narrow circle of people who properly express their admiration for the "First". Behind this practice, he hides his inadequacy as a leader, which is confirmed by the personalities of those close to him (for example, Igor Druz, Vika-Vika, Igor Ivanov and others are either freaks or smooth-talking swindlers and thieves).

Having gained widespread fame for the first time and feeling his incipient popularity, Girkin actively enters the public space.

Escape from the front

Girkin’s tendency to insubordination and rejection of the system (since the system rejected him at one time) leads to a perverted form of entering the public space: Girkin does not want to enter the information space as the head of the DPR Ministry of Defense; his and his headquarters’ messages do not come as reports from the department or his units, but as private publications by Girkin under the pseudonym “Kotych” on an online forum for fans of reconstruction and military antiques.

That is, Girkin does not work in a team, does not associate himself with the republic, he has his own private opinion about everything. Girkin does not understand that in such a situation a member of the government cannot have a private opinion. He sees himself as the arbiter and measure of everything.

Girkin regularly makes video messages on the Internet, declaring that “there are few of us, we are fighting for the entire Donbass, there are no weapons.” This did not correspond to the real state of affairs. There were two reasons for these tragic statements:

Formation of one’s own heroic portrait of the “Knight of the Sad Image”, the only Hope of the Russian People

Preparing the ground for escape under the pretext that he has been abandoned by everyone (Girkin is already very scared, active hostilities are going on; he is also filled with the consciousness of the value of his person for history and sees his main task as preserving himself for Russia)

Strelkov’s management style in Slavyansk is characterized, on the one hand, by extremely inept command and passivity in the conduct of hostilities; on the other hand, extreme and unnecessary cruelty towards “suspicious persons” (mainly from among the local population, officials of the old administration). He also takes revenge on his comrades who are not loyal enough to him, as he himself thinks.

At the same time, Strelok, who is widely known in the media and the Internet, but is an insolvent figure (does not know the situation) cannot be called a real commander. A number of independent groups operating in the Slavic-Kramatorsk agglomeration are simply guided by him and interact with his people. Formally, Mozgovoy comes under the command of Strelok, but this is done largely for ideological reasons and has no real implementation. He manages the military forces in a criminally incompetent manner, given the losses.

By the time he left Slavyansk, Girkin’s psychological crisis had reached its peak. He spontaneously, contrary to orders, decides to flee, leaves quickly and secretly, abandoning some of his people and journalists.

The currently popular legend that Girkin came to restore order in Donetsk, which was about to be surrendered, is absolutely untrue. This version was born only in the fall of 2014, when Strelok had already been in Russia for a couple of months and began maintaining his reputation. In fact, Girkin is afraid to go to Donetsk, realizing that there will be many complaints against him.

Then Strelok has no choice but to go to Donetsk. A city of one million people with a difficult balance of power frightens Strelok; he still does not know how to build relationships with normal men, and therefore he is only formally considered the head of the DPR Defense Ministry and does not try to exercise his powers in relation to really strong commanders.

Panic and humiliation

Girkin commands only part of those who left Slavyansk. On the bayonets of the Slavs who remained faithful, Girkin turns his energy in the usual direction: he deals with the obviously weak, that is, with civilians.

In Donetsk, Girkin meets his current, third wife. The type is again the same: 21 years old, poorly educated, outwardly attractive, native of the Ivanovo region of the Russian Federation, Miroslava Reginskaya, who came to Donetsk to study, but actually only got a job at a nightclub. She works in the Prime Minister's Secretariat. Girkin is impressed by the girl, walks around her in circles, but she focuses on more brutal men. Miroslava accepts Girkin’s courtship only after leaving the Russian Federation, when she turns out to be of no use to anyone, according to the principle “for lack of anything better,” but quite soon she takes on the role of a fighting girlfriend of the savior of the Russian World. Girkin flees to Russia.

Life after fear

Psychological complexes and a person’s character explain a lot in human destiny. But a person is one who is theoretically capable of rising above himself. At that moment, when the militia heroically fought with the nationalist battalions and the Ukrainian regular army, and the glory of the “300 Strelkovtsy” thundered in the Donbass, Girkin could make the most important choice in his life - to remain in history as a hero, and not as a petty provocateur. But it turned out that he was cruel enough to arrest people, provoke senseless victims, and was inflexible in torture and violence against those who were already in his power, “in the basement.” But he lacked his own determination and courage. A hero is one who sacrifices himself for a high goal, yes, often at the risk of others, but above all, facing the challenges of fate personally. But a provocateur - he only risks others. And when he realized that the “brilliant plan” had failed, he panicked and almost killed the entire militia. Girkin is unlikely to have another chance to overcome the trail of humiliation and complexes, and PR and political attempts will make him more and more ridiculous. Such is the fate of the imitator, the reenactor, the provocateur, who had a chance to become the hero of history, but who will remain the character of dirty and cruel jokes.

Vyacheslav Ponomarev, P the first mayor of the rebel Slavyansk,Mikhail Verin, To commander of the Russian Orthodox Army,Tamerlan Enaldiev, Tocommander of a separate Cossack regimentRepublican Guard of the DPR, pguard ataman of the Terek Cossack army

Every war produces its own heroes. Ukraine was no exception.

Igor Strelkov. A man in his prime. A native Muscovite. Wife. Two children. But the family seems to be a thing of the past. Donbass replaced Strelkov’s cozy hearth. Slavyansk became home.

Little is known about the commander of the Slavyansk self-defense forces. He prefers not to talk about himself. There is silence about personal life and the foggy past. Only meager information leaks onto the Internet. But against the backdrop of the information war, it is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The only fact that cannot be disputed is that it was Strelkov who put together an entire army of militias and in a matter of days taught the common people to shoot, guard, dig in, camouflage, and defend themselves.

Who is Igor Strelkov, how did he end up in Ukraine, is he going to return back, what does he not accept in people, and why did he give the order to shoot the looters among “his own” - in the MK material.
The personality of the head of the Slavic militia, Igor Strelkov, aroused genuine curiosity from the first days.
A blank veil hung over this secret for a month. Strelkov himself pulled it off its hinges. He held a press conference in Slavyansk and told journalists who he was, where he was from, why and how. Everything seems clear and clear. They say that he went to Ukraine of his own free will - first Crimea, then Slavyansk, and here he stayed to help his Slavic brothers.
The militia commander answered questions knowledgeably. “The warrior’s speech is too competent,” those gathered then noted.

It turned out that Strelkov’s real name was Girkin, a man originally from Moscow, a historian by training, was married, had two sons...

In Moscow, according to our information, his mother Alla Ivanovna and sister are waiting for him. A wife and two sons remained here - 10-year-old Andrei and 16-year-old Alexander.

There is silence in the apartment where Igor is registered. They don’t answer calls in Girkin’s mother’s apartment either.

Journalists came to us here a month ago, we told us that we knew about our neighbor Igor - that’s how those guys ended up on Ukrainian television, then they disgraced us all over Ukraine. Since then, Girkin’s relatives have not left the apartment. We were planning to move from here,” says the Girkins’ 80-year-old neighbor. - We know this family well. They live more than modestly - no car, no dacha, no luxuries.

We didn’t see Igor himself here often, God willing, a couple of times a year. He's on the road all the time, as his mother said. Something didn’t work out with his wife, she moved out of here.

Igor wore uniform all the time and wore uniform. Never seen him in a suit or jeans...

Perhaps the loudest rumor that blew up the Internet: “The leader of the people’s militia in Slavyansk is a GRU officer.” However, this particular point from everything said above has not been confirmed in any of the sources.

"Vodka! I'm Rakia! Welcome!

The life path of Igor Girkin cannot be called primitive.

Born in 1970 in Moscow, in a family of hereditary military men. From a young age I was interested in history.

At school, Igor was called a “nerd” - he was going for a gold medal, reading books during all breaks, Girkin’s classmates recall. - He seemed strange to us, but not withdrawn. He was promised a great future.

After graduating from school, Girkin entered the Institute of History and Archives.

This is how classmates remember Igor Girkin.

Igor was not an absolute excellent student, but overall he studied well,” says Alexander Rabotkevich. - He was crazy about military history. He could, by pointing to a map, describe any battle, show at what time the ship moved in that direction and where it went next. He could also describe in detail the uniform of a particular military man at different periods of time.

- In addition to studying, Girkin was interested in student life - parties, some kind of entertainment events?

But Igor just avoided them. The only student event that attracted him was archaeological excavations, where only five people from our course were invited. We, freshmen, went to the construction team. We went to excavations in Pskov. The last time I saw Igor was at a class reunion a couple of years ago. Igor didn’t tell me anything about his work; I didn’t bother him with questions about his personal life.

Igor was not attracted to the profession of historian. He preferred military action.

His first forced march was Transnistria, he fought in Bosnia in a Russian volunteer detachment, and then in the brigades of the Republika Srpska Army. Igor visited Chechnya twice: in 1995 - as part of a motorized rifle brigade and from 1999 to 2005 - in special forces units.

Mikhail Polikarpov later wrote about the Russian volunteer detachment that fought in Bosnia. Among his heroes is Igor Girkin.

We contacted the writer.

“I met Igor on the basis of the Yugoslav events, when I was collecting material for my work,” Polikarpov began the conversation. - The first time we met was at the wake of our mutual friend who died in Yugoslavia.

- And what impression did Igor make on you then?

It was quite a long time ago. I won't say it anymore. Then we talked a lot. The volunteer movement that came to war is a heterogeneous mass. Different people gathered there, each with their own motive. Igor and I were romantics; by that time we already had higher education and a decent amount of knowledge. But unlike me, Girkin turned out to be a man with a core of steel. He did not stop at Yugoslavia. War became his path. He has a strong character, an excellent education, and a broad outlook. Now all his best qualities are manifested in Slavyansk. I would say of him that he is a figure of the caliber of Garibaldi.

- Do you think that after his first war Girkin could no longer live differently?

He was drawn in. At what moment this happened, I cannot say. I think that a person who spent several years in hot spots feels quite comfortable only in that environment. Initially, Igor had some prerequisites for military affairs. He always knew clearly what he wanted, he had clear convictions, he was able to risk himself in the name of the ideals in which he was convinced. Igor is merciless to himself and to others. Of course, if the Soviet Union had not collapsed, there would have been no hot spots; Igor would have worked as a historian in a museum or taught at a school. I have no doubt that he would have made a great teacher at some military university; he could teach officers a lot.

- Is a feeling of fear inherent in Strelkov?

Within reasonable limits, this feeling is inherent in everyone. Although life changes people... But this is not the case with Igor. He adequately assesses risks and is responsible for other people. Even in Slavyansk he successfully fights with minimal losses. By the way, in that small town he actually created a personnel forge for the army of New Russia. When he learned that an unsuccessful operation with a large number of casualties had taken place in Donetsk, he sent reinforcements there from Slavyansk. Understand that Girkin, from the experience of Yugoslavia, understands how to create an army from scratch. The war in Chechnya taught him how to conduct long-term combat operations. The combination of these factors has played a decisive role in the current situation.

- The other day there was information that, on his orders, two marauders from the militia were shot...

This looks like Igor. Discipline needs to be maintained, I understand him here. I have no doubt that Girkin had good reasons for such actions. Although in one of his interviews he stated that he did not have the right to shoot people. And he would have kept his word if martial law had not been introduced on the territory of the DPR. Here the situation has already changed. In war it’s like in war. Igor received the right to take tougher actions. It is important for him that civilians understand that they are protected by disciplined and decent people.

- Why did people follow him, why did they believe him? After all, he is, in fact, a stranger for the residents of South-Eastern Ukraine....

As far as I understand, he was still called to Slavyansk. The militia needed a commander who could lead them and teach them military affairs.

- But Strelkov himself said in an interview that he made the decision to go to Ukraine on his own.

According to the information that I have, going to Ukraine really was his decision. But then events unfolded in such a way that it was Slavyansk who needed him.

Strelkov is called a real Russian officer. They say about him: “The concept of “honor” is not an empty phrase for him.” Is it so? Or is this how legends are created?

When I talked with Igor, it seemed to me that this man had emerged from the past; in terms of moral and ethical qualities, he was clearly not from this century.

Residents of Slavyansk say that disagreements arose among the commanding staff in the city and conflicts began. Can he crush shooters with his authority?

I am a little aware of the situation in Slavyansk and understand that the people there feel uncomfortable. And it's annoying. I am sure of one thing: Igor will not allow inconsistency among the militias. He will build a rigid vertical of power and will be able to maintain discipline. Remember his televised address to the people of Donbass, when he called on the male population to join the ranks of the militia? Several hundred people later came to see him. Although he clearly outlined the conditions: they say that there will be no freedom, you will have to fight where they say and for as long as they say.

My interlocutor flatly refused to tell stories from the life of Igor Strelkov-Girkin: “All this is inappropriate now.” He only allowed me to publish some excerpts from his documentary story.

From this work you can learn a lot about Strelkov’s character,” added Polikarpov. - In my work, his call sign is Monarchist.

“...Igor passed through Transnistria, fought as part of a shock detachment of local militias near Dubossary. He went there immediately after defending his diploma at the Institute of History and Archives, and there, on the Dniester, he lost a friend...

...The curator, an ardent monarchist by conviction, christened the detachment “Royal Wolves.” Igor was also a monarchist and supported this proposal. Igor himself did not receive any nickname, the Russians called him by name, and the Serbs called him “the tsarist officer.”

The five of them, armed to the teeth, went to the heights. Igor the Monarchist represented artillery: his machine gun was equipped with an attachment for firing tromblons - rifle grenades.

A lone gunman struck them from the ridge. Igor worked accurately - he sat down on his knee and released the horn, and then, having reloaded the machine gun with a blank cartridge, he accurately fired a tromblon. A Muslim fighter was killed..."

“...A Russian volunteer woke up at night and noticed the dancing of the flames on the ceiling. The Monarchist was sitting at the table and opening a tin can. There was paper burning in an ashtray nearby. The glare of this fire was on the ceiling.

Why are you doing this? - his comrade asked with relief, having already said goodbye to life.

“I burn old poems,” answered the Monarchist.

What, you couldn’t do it in the oven? I almost got a shiver.

“It’s better for creativity,” the poet explained to him, “it inspires...”

“...After discussing the details of the operation, we split into an assault group of six fighters and a fire support group. The latter was headed by the Monarchist. He, a man who almost didn’t drink, was given the radio call sign “Vodka”. The assault group had its own call sign “Rakiya”...

...North of the road, on a hillock, the Russians installed their 82-mm mortar. The Monarchist who commanded the crew was outwardly calm, not expressing any emotions...

Pyotr Malyshev called the radio station and began to adjust the mortar fire, shouting to the Monarchist into the radio:

Vodka! I am Rakia! Welcome!

I am Vodka! Rakia, welcome!

Move the mortar fire one hundred meters to the south!

I am Rakia! Undershoot. Another fifty meters to the south!

Igor “groped” for the Muslims - and the mines began to hit the target... Splashes of tiles flew, one house, then another, burst into flames. After a number of successful hits on the farm, the “Turks” began to retreat, covered by small arms and mortar fire...

...The height was taken and the front line was moved further to the west.

The Muslims subsequently announced that during this battle they lost only nine of their fighters killed, standardly also reporting very large losses of the Chetniks... The Russians lost only one volunteer wounded..."

“Many people want to help him, but hardly anyone will go”

The main idea of ​​that work is derived from Girkin at the beginning:

“It was 1992. At the end of July, the war in Transnistria ended.

Many who have already smelled gunpowder, lost friends and become embittered, are left with a feeling that can be briefly expressed by the phrase: “We didn’t fight enough.” After the first euphoria - alive! - a state familiar to most professional warriors set in: the desire to take risks again, to live life to the fullest. This is the so-called “gunpowder poisoning syndrome.”

This very “gunpowder poisoning syndrome” never let Girkin go. Peaceful life seemed too boring to him. There wasn't enough salt and pepper.

And in the intervals between wars, he found an occupation close to military affairs. Engaged in the reconstruction of historical events.

Igor Girkin-Strelkov was a member of the Drozdovsky association, which studies the history of the Drozdovsky regiment.

Help "MK": Colonel Mikhail Gordeevich Drozdovsky was the only one who brought a large detachment from the German front to the aid of A.I. Denikin’s Volunteer Army. In the spring of 1918, his detachment of 1,000 young officers made a 1,200-mile trek from Yassy to Novocherkassk. The detachment went through all of Ukraine in battles.

Strelkov also led the “Consolidated Machine Gun Team”, organized on the basis of the military-historical club “Moscow Dragoon Regiment”. He took part in such reconstructions as the “War of '16”, the festival “In Memory of the Civil War”, “Valor and the Death of the Russian Guard”. The club is also engaged in the reconstruction of a machine gun team from the period of the First World War, the Civil War, and a machine gun platoon of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War.

In the reconstructions, Igor Strelkov preferred to “play out” the lower military ranks, despite the fact that he is a senior reserve officer of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. On a number of resources, Strelka is mentioned as “a supporter of the White movement and the monarchy.”

Reenactors are unusual people. They seem to live in the time they are playing out. And today, most of them do not want to reveal the military secret about the identity of Igor Strelkov. One of Strelkov’s colleagues explained his refusal as follows: “The light in the window is help to the enemy.”

When Igor appeared at the club, his military background came in very handy for us,” reenactor Nikolai began the conversation. “He always willingly shared the wisdom of drill training and tactics, and taught us how to properly handle weapons, even if they were fake. He repeatedly invited everyone to listen to a lecture on assembling and disassembling his faithful friend - the drained Maxim machine gun.

- When did you meet him?

About three years ago. We, members of the VIC Markovtsy club, used to often go to events dedicated to the Civil War. Igor and his so-called machine gun team almost always traveled with us. During all the time I communicated with him, I got the impression that he was not just a reenactor dressed in the uniform of that era, but a real white officer of that era. His behavior and manners showed him to be a noble, honest man devoted to his homeland. He did not play, but did not live his life. Many said: “He was born at the wrong time, he would have been in that era...”

- Did Igor work somewhere?

He said that he worked in a government agency. But he didn’t say where exactly.

- What was Strelkov’s “machine gun team” like?

At events during the Civil War, they wore shoulder straps of the Drozdovsky Rifle Regiment; during events during the First World War, they wore shoulder straps of the 13th Infantry Regiment. Igor was the leader of this team, and in fact - a small military history club. He maintained a page on the VIC Markovtsy forum, where he posted announcements about upcoming events and shared useful information. His responsibilities included equipping the club staff with the necessary equipment and uniforms. He also took people to events in an organized manner, and led the people on the “battlefield.” There are those who do search work in the summer. Igor did not search.

- How many people were in his “machine gun team”?

No more than five. These are different people: a couple of guys about 25-30 years old, there was a man about 40, another one, it seems, about 50 years old. Another guy, about 30 years old, went out with him earlier, quite strong, understanding and strictly observing the army discipline that reigned in Strelkov's team. I remember how he even carried a 50-kilogram machine gun with some ease.

- Did Strelkov have a strict selection process for his team or could anyone sign up for him?

The selection was tough. He preferred people of strong physique, without bad habits and ready for hard service. Alcohol was strictly prohibited in the “machine gun team”. Those who had previously been noted for unseemly acts or inappropriate behavior were also not accepted into the team. This is how he described the future of the unit: “We will not chase numbers. The task is to create a team with which you won’t be ashamed to go into battle, to a parade, to a temple, or on a visit.”

Many reenactors seriously abuse alcohol - both before, during, and after events. There was nothing even close to this in Igor’s team. On the contrary, if he knew in advance that people with problems with alcohol would go on the train or bus to the reconstruction, he most likely preferred not only a different route, but also a different type of transport. He disdained to ride next to “alcohol tourists.” Once on the train there was an incident when Igor had to get up in the middle of the night and persuade the police not to imprison a reenactor who was drunk as hell. Through joint efforts they were persuaded. But after this incident, Igor politely asked this unfortunate reenactor not to appear at events where Igor himself appears. For this position towards alcohol and “alcotourist-reenactors” Igor was highly respected. Igor and alcohol are incompatible things.

- Did he invest his money in reconstruction?

He is a very passionate person and spared no expense for the benefit of the common cause. I think he said that he doesn’t even have a car, since he invests almost all his money in reconstruction.

- What amounts are we talking about? What did the money go to?

These are, as a rule, mock-ups of machine guns, which were then redesigned and certified by the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a cold weapon capable of creating only a good noise effect. The effect of firing from such a machine gun makes a great impression on the audience. I can only say that the model of the Maxim machine gun today costs about 130-150 thousand rubles in the store. And in order to bring its appearance as close as possible to the “royal model”, you need to buy a lot of bronze parts produced before the revolution, which also cost from 5 to 100 thousand apiece.

Recently there has been information that Strelkov went through hot spots, was an employee of the FSB, GRU... Have you heard anything about his past?

He wrote on one of the forums that he served in the artillery in Chechnya. I went to Bosnia as a volunteer. I also know about the GRU and the FSB from rumors in the press. I don't have any additional information.

Surely among the reenactors they discussed why Strelkov decided to go to Ukraine. Did anyone know about his plans?

This came as a surprise to all of us. But his decision is clear to us all. The patriot did not put up with what was happening and went where he was needed. He even wrote in his memoirs that to those who have once been to war, peaceful life will seem insipid and unreal.

- Did any of his reconstruction colleagues go to Ukraine with him?

We are all connected by families and work. Many people want to help him, but hardly anyone will go.

- Why did Igor change his surname Girkin to Strelkov?

- “Strelkov” is easier to pronounce and a more memorable surname.

After the conversation, the interlocutor sent us Strelkov’s poems, which he posted on his forum.

This is precisely the principle by which Igor lives, as described in his poem,” Nikolai added.

Edification to yourself

Don't wait for orders!
Don't sit
Referring to peace!
Forward! Through the winds and rains
And the blizzards howl!
Leave comfort and comfort -
While you're young, hit the road!
When they sing the funeral song,
You'll have time to relax!
Be honest, be brave, don't notice
Ridicule and interference.
If you are the eldest, answer
Not for yourself - for everyone!
The one who made no mistakes -
I withered away in idleness -
He didn't dare the burden of life
Try it on your shoulders!
Whatever your destiny -
Good or bad
Still remember: the measure of your deeds
Only God will appreciate it!

Irina Bobrova Newspaper headline: “He is clearly not from this century” Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 26535 dated May 29, 2014

Retired warrant officer Igor Girkin(Strelkov)

"Surkov's propaganda"

Actually, the second article should have been called “From Slavyansk to Minsk.” Now it will be the third, since the first material (“Militarists” versus “peacekeepers”?) caused an unhealthy stir based on my attitude personally towards Strelkov. This was not a sufficient reason to devote a separate article to the topic. For further consideration of the confrontation between concepts for resolving the situation in Donbass, Strelkov did not need to be mentioned at all, and I would not return to him. I don't like writing about people I don't like. In the end, any text about someone is unnecessary PR for someone.

But when, two days after the text of the first article was published, three well-known, top bloggers called me and unanimously said that they were extremely worried about Strelkov’s rhetoric, and especially that he still had a fairly high support rating among the patriotic public (even though he decreased by more than half over the year), I thought it was worth speaking out on this topic. It’s worth it precisely because I found out the position of the callers completely by accident; if I had not written the previous article, I would not have known what was bothering them Strelkov. This means that people are simply afraid to express their attitude towards the character. That is, they do not write anything about him - neither good nor bad, they avoid the topic. They are afraid that they will be accused of Surkov's propaganda with Surkov's money.

Well, I'm not afraid. The constant hysteria in the information space is one of the reasons for my negative attitude towards Strelkov and the group of propagandists serving him. If a discussion with opponents boils down to sweeping accusations and hysterical defamation, this indicates extreme unprofessionalism of the team involved in information support. Hysteria and accusations come into play then, precisely then and only then, when completely no other arguments in defense of his position.

Meanwhile, an excellent information professional works with Strelkov’s team Boris Rozhin, whose potential is practically untapped, others set the tone. As a result, Strelkov, who started out as an icon of the patriotic opposition to the current government, lost half of the support of the target audience in a year (although his rating still remains quite high, there is no longer any talk of absolute dominance). I am sure that if they began to mold the leader not from Strelkov, but from Rozhin, then we would have observed a steady upward trend in ratings, and the already ridiculous anti-Surkov hysteria (despite the fact that no one “leaked” the Donbass over the year, on the contrary, the republics have strengthened) would be replaced by good and well-reasoned propaganda work.

The author of the interview modestly notes that Kazantsev is not a real surname, but the real one is known. Why hide it? There are so many details in the interview that there is no need to even identify the general; FSB personnel will instantly find out who headed the corresponding department during the corresponding period of time. In addition, for authenticity, a photograph of some people was posted and it was said that this was a general in his early youth in Afghanistan. Why can you post a photo, but can’t name your name? At the same time, the surname of General Viktor Kazantsev, who was really popular since the Chechen War, is chosen as a pseudonym.

Ensign Girkin (Strelkov) in his element...

Further, the story about Strelkov’s recruitment to the FSB is “Santa Barbara” for an exalted housewife. Some two FSB colonels, keeping an eye on potential monarchist terrorists (they, the whole two colonels, have nothing else to do) and finding the intellectual Strelkov, who is so smart that they hire him, even though by law he is not allowed to do so. Another discrepancy in dates: in different versions of Strelkov’s biography, he began serving in the FSB in 1993 or 1998, and “General Kazantsev” “remembers” that in 1995. Moreover, in 1998-2000, Strelkov was published in the newspaper “Zavtra” , and in 2011 he worked as a freelance correspondent for the ANNA News agency. Quite a strange occupation for an FSB officer making a successful career.

Of course, anyone can edit Wikipedia, and it can make mistakes. But the shooting team can also correct Wikipedia. Moreover, from the moment Strelkov became a public figure, his official biography, verified to the last detail, had to be prepared by the team and posted for free access on the Internet. So that if Wikipedia makes a mistake, it can be corrected. Colleagues (at least those who are already retired) would have to give out interviews in batches. Photos in uniform and with management colleagues were to be published. Or does anyone think that FSB officers don’t take photographs as souvenirs?

There is nothing. A muddy biography of a man who went to several foreign wars, including the Yugoslav one, and served somewhere, it seems. When there was no suitable war, he amused himself with reconstruction. And besides, extremely quarrelsome. After all, he managed to quarrel with most of his colleagues and comrades in Donbass. Even with my long-term friend and godfather Boroday.

I don’t like unprofessionalism and deceit in people in general, and in politicians in particular. When an incomprehensible person with a murky biography, appearing out of nowhere, first gives the United States and Kyiv evidence of "Russian invasion"(“the FSB colonel” organizing the resistance), and then devotes all his political activity to unsubstantiated attacks on the official in charge of the Ukrainian direction of Russian policy (without actually naming it directly, but attacking the Kremlin, Putin and Putin’s domestic policy of national compromise, as well as Russia’s cautious but ultimately successful foreign policy), I have a question: Does such activity correspond to Russian interests? Even if the anti-Kremlin hysteria is covered with hypocritical sighs about the “dying population of Donbass.” Because the person who said: “I pulled the trigger of war”, - has no right to sigh for the victims of the war he started.

This is exactly what the Americans wanted - drag Russia into the conflict and obtain evidence of her aggression. Here he is the “FSB colonel” who “on Putin’s orders” started the war. All that remains is to bring the troops themselves into Ukraine.

We do not know whether Moscow initially intended to send troops to Ukraine. There was demonstrative preparation. But there are two real options:

1. There were plans to send in troops, but they decided to abandon them under the pressure of a set of circumstances (foreign policy, economic, military). In this case, Strelkov’s actions, which created a factor of uncertainty for Russia (it is not clear who started what and why) could become one of many arguments against the deployment of troops (not the main one, but one of them).

2. The demonstration of readiness to send troops was initially a bluff. This option seems more likely to me, since Putin never does what is expected of him. In Crimea, no one expected polite people, and they came. After that, everyone was confident that the Russian army would appear in Donbass any day now. Officially, it is still not there. In case it was a bluff and Russia decided to win Ukraine without war, Strelkov’s actions forced him to adjust plans on the fly.

In any case, Strelkov’s actions did not help the country’s leadership implement their plans. And, by the way, according to the law, management has the right to ask Strelkov why he did it (it’s just not politically profitable to make him a victim of the regime now), but they themselves are not obliged to report to him.

Again, Russian assistance increased and became more public as the leadership of the republics passed from the hands of Russian citizens to the hands of local figures. Because these are local rebels, and if the main “rebel” is a “FSB colonel”, then according to all international standards he is a saboteur. And the country on whose behalf he acts must either abandon him or accept responsibility for unprovoked aggression. Both one and the other were bad for Russia. And the “colonel” takes credit for the fact that when he was asked to leave Donbass, he did not wander too much and almost immediately allowed himself to be persuaded. This story with Strelkov’s recall is evidence of the humanism of the Russian authorities. In such a situation, the Americans would send a killer (you never know who dies at the front) or imprison him like General Noriega for drug trafficking, and Russia would persuade him to go on vacation.

At the same time, an army was created from a hodgepodge of militias, and the power of field commanders was replaced by a regular administration. And this is important, since you can be delighted with a “people’s hero” who is fighting somewhere if you yourself have a regular and familiar administration in Khabarovsk, Moscow or Bryansk. But living under the rule of a field commander is a dubious pleasure. He rules not by law, but by justice. And justice is different for everyone. He is busy with war, and the civilian population (if it is not capable of feeding his army, but, on the contrary, requires the diversion of scarce resources to feed itself) is meaningless ballast.

That is, it is visible Russia's clear position, aimed at ensuring that power in the DPR/LPR passes into the hands of local leaders, that order is established in administration and military development, that instead of the Makhnovshchina, normal local authorities appear, with which one can work, including at the international level. And the fulfillment of all these requirements was achieved, among other things, by dosing assistance and redistributing it, depending on the loyalty and controllability of a particular commander. This is normal, those who want to receive help from the country must take into account the interests of the country. Controllability is not a mortal sin, but a virtue, since it allows you to plan military operations with a greater degree of realism.

Summarizing

I do not believe that only Strelkov started the war (indeed, not only he, but his role was significant).

I don’t think that Strelkov prevented Putin from sending troops, but he created a factor of uncertainty, and his actions in Donbass were provocations, designed to put the Russian government before a choice: send troops and seriously weaken its position in the global confrontation with the United States, or refuse to support the rebels and undermine its authority within the country.

I don’t think Strelkov understood what he was doing, I’m sure he was being used in the dark. Moreover, it was not the Americans who used it (although Strelkov’s activities were and remain beneficial to the United States). It was used by that part of the Russian patriotic politicum that wants to radicalize the country’s domestic and foreign policy and is ready to risk a split in Russian society (the abolition of the policy of national consensus) in the conditions of direct military confrontation with the United States. This policy is called adventurous, and Putin is not an adventurer.

In general, from my point of view, Strelkov is an extremely ambitious, but rather limited person who is easy to use in the dark. He was incredibly lucky because he did not die in Yugoslavia or Transnistria, he managed to escape from Slavyansk and he is not only free. He is an active politician. Precisely a politician, although for now without status.

And that's it with Strelkov ending forever. As I already said, it is not needed for further analysis of the stated problem. And the topic is really big and interesting.

Rostislav Ishchenko, columnist for MIA Rossiya Segodnya

Goblin vs Strelkov (we reveal lies together with militiaman Alan Mamiev)

More details and a variety of information about events taking place in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of our beautiful planet can be obtained at Internet Conferences, constantly held on the website “Keys of Knowledge”. All Conferences are open and completely free. We invite those who are waking up and interested...

This person is registered in Moscow at the address: Shenkursky proezd, building 8-b, apt. 136,” said SBU press secretary Ostapenko. She also noted that Girkin had previously visited Ukraine several times with a Russian passport, and the last time he legally crossed the Ukrainian border was on February 26 of this year, arriving on a Sheremetyevo-Simferopol flight, and on the night of February 27, the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was seized, which was the beginning of the annexation peninsula of Crimea.

Ostapenko also noted that the SBU established the involvement of the Strelka group in the kidnapping of OSCE representatives in the Donetsk region. “The detention took place at the direct command of saboteur Igor Bezler (call sign “Bes”). This is evidenced by the recordings of telephone conversations between Bezler and his subordinates,” added the head of the press center.

Private bussiness

Igor Girkin, a graduate of the Moscow Historical and Archival Institute, who specialized in the White Civil War, wrote several works about the fighting of whites against reds on the territory of Left Bank Ukraine in 1919. His dad is a major in the USSR Internal Troops. During his student years, his patriotism was constantly going off scale and he was looking for a way out somewhere. During his studies, Girkin traveled first to Transnistria, then to Serbia, where he fought as part of two detachments, and he commanded one, about which he wrote a detailed memoir, which is on the Internet. Then he even served his military service in the Russian army. And finally, when the first Chechen war took place, he sought to be hired under a contract, since he had a higher education, but did not have a military department, so he asked long and tediously to be hired. And, ultimately, he was taken, and towards the end of the first Chechen war he took part in a couple of battles as a contract soldier.

At the end of the first Chechen war, Girkin walked around with the feeling that everyone had betrayed him and his friends, that Great Russia was collapsing, that everything was bad, that he needed to defend his position, he needed to fight. And when he came with the first Chechen war, he began to strive to be accepted into the Russian armed forces, but as an officer, since he had a higher education, military service and contract service. He again spent a very long time trying to get hired. He was refused for a long time for various reasons. But, ultimately, he joined the armed forces of the Russian Federation and became an officer. He finally broke with science. At some point, theoretical history was not enough for him and he wanted to participate. He found it too boring to describe what was happening.

Girkin perceived the collapse of the Union as a personal tragedy. In fact, after returning from the first Chechen war, he was already determined that he would participate in restoring the borders of this mythical Empire, and it is unclear - which one exactly? Accept the existence of independent Ukraine, Belarus, etc. he never intended to.

Igor Girkin’s family still lives in Shenkursky Proezd in Moscow in a three-room apartment in a panel house, very unfurnished and uncomfortable. A light bulb without a lampshade hanging in the kitchen.

He was always the kind of person who was least interested in money. Moreover, he was interested in money solely for achieving ideological goals, because family life, in principle, never interested him.

It is known that he had two marriages, but he told all his girls that he would stay with them until the first call. This was his concept of family. And, of course, when he got the chance to bring his youthful ideas to life, he jumped at it. According to the testimony of his Moscow friends and acquaintances, he participated in the Second Chechen War and practically did not leave Dagestan and Chechnya for some time. As it turned out, he was in Syria and went to Ukraine.

At the same time, when there was no active hostilities, he had to sublimate something, taking part in military-historical reconstructions. He always told all the participants in these reconstructions, who were from Ukraine, that the Russians would take the East from us, they say, don’t worry, Russia will come anyway.

He is absolutely fanatical about restoring the borders of the Empire. And when he first appeared on YouTube with his comments that Ukraine is a stillborn, failed project, he really sincerely thinks so. And those people who came with him, they all think exactly the same.

Strelkov’s involvement in the murder of Gorlovka City Council deputy Vladimir Rybak has been established.

Downed Malaysian airliner

The confession of the Minister of Defense of the unrecognized DPR, Igor Girkin, that his people shot down a Malaysian Boeing 777 in the Donbass, even after a refutation, will cost him dearly. The United States intends to declare Russian President Vladimir Putin a “sponsor of terrorism.” There are similar sentiments in other countries.

In this regard, Moscow no longer needs Strelok, especially since the last month his statements have become increasingly hysterical. He claims that the DPR will not hold out and demands help from Putin, threatening otherwise to go to the Kremlin. On Saturday, Igor Girkin said that his army is suffering defeat after defeat, there are no weapons and no people, while the Ukrainian military has launched a full offensive against the unrecognized republics.

The military commandant of Donetsk noted that Donbass did not massively support the DPR, and Moscow did not provide the DPR sheep with weapons at the appropriate level. In addition, Igor Girkin became dangerous for Putin, because the media actually created the image of a Russian national hero out of him. And now this hero increasingly criticizes Vladimir Vladimirovich himself, noting that he can stage a military coup in his native Russia. This is especially likely now, against the backdrop of the Boeing 777 tragedy.

In addition, some observers have already begun to call Strelok an alternative to Putin himself, because it was he who started the “liberation movement” in the east of the neighboring country. At the same time, Putin’s plans to create Novorossiya failed. But still, the main reason why sooner or later the President of the Russian Federation eliminates Strelok is that he now needs to prove to the whole world that the Boeing 777, which had 298 people on board, was not shot down on his orders, even if it was it was like this.

“In terms of moral and ethical qualities, he is clearly not from this century”

Every war produces its own heroes. Ukraine was no exception.

Igor Strelkov. A man in his prime. A native Muscovite. Wife. Two children. But the family seems to be a thing of the past. Donbass replaced Strelkov’s cozy hearth. Slavyansk became home.

Little is known about the commander of the Slavyansk self-defense forces. He prefers not to talk about himself. There is silence about personal life and the foggy past. Only meager information leaks onto the Internet. But against the backdrop of the information war, it is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The only fact that cannot be disputed is that it was Strelkov who put together an entire army of militias and in a matter of days taught the common people to shoot, guard, dig in, camouflage, and defend themselves.

Who is Igor Strelkov, how did he end up in Ukraine, is he going to return back, what does he not accept in people, and why did he give the order to shoot the looters among “his own” - in the MK material.

The personality of the head of the Slavic militia, Igor Strelkov, aroused genuine curiosity from the first days.

A blank veil hung over this secret for a month. Strelkov himself pulled it off its hinges. He held a press conference in Slavyansk and told journalists who he was, where he was from, why and how. Everything seems clear and clear. They say that he went to Ukraine of his own free will - first Crimea, then Slavyansk, and here he stayed to help his Slavic brothers.

The militia commander answered questions knowledgeably. “The warrior’s speech is too competent,” those gathered then noted.

It turned out that Strelkov’s real name was Girkin, a man originally from Moscow, a historian by training, was married, had two sons...

In Moscow, according to our information, his mother Alla Ivanovna and sister are waiting for him. A wife and two sons remained here - 10-year-old Andrei and 16-year-old Alexander.

There is silence in the apartment where Igor is registered. They don’t answer calls in Girkin’s mother’s apartment either.

Journalists came to us here a month ago, we told us that we knew about our neighbor Igor - that’s how those guys ended up on Ukrainian television, then they disgraced us all over Ukraine. Since then, Girkin’s relatives have not left the apartment. We were planning to move from here,” says the Girkins’ 80-year-old neighbor. - We know this family well. They live more than modestly - no car, no dacha, no luxuries.

We didn’t see Igor himself here often, God willing, a couple of times a year. He's on the road all the time, as his mother said. Something didn’t work out with his wife, she moved out of here.

Igor wore uniform all the time and wore uniform. Never seen him in a suit or jeans...

Perhaps the loudest rumor that blew up the Internet: “The leader of the people’s militia in Slavyansk is a GRU officer.” However, this particular point from everything said above has not been confirmed in any of the sources.

"Vodka! I'm Rakia! Welcome!

The life path of Igor Girkin cannot be called primitive.

Born in 1970 in Moscow, in a family of hereditary military men. From a young age I was interested in history.

“At school, Igor was called a “nerd” - he was going for a gold medal, reading books during all breaks,” Girkin’s classmates recall. “He seemed strange to us, but not withdrawn. He was promised a great future.

After graduating from school, Girkin entered the Institute of History and Archives.

This is how classmates remember Igor Girkin.

“Igor was not an absolute excellent student, but overall he studied well,” says Alexander Rabotkevich. — He was crazy about military history. He could, by pointing to a map, describe any battle, show at what time the ship moved in that direction and where it went next. He could also describe in detail the uniform of a particular military man at different periods of time.

— In addition to studying, Girkin was interested in student life - parties, some kind of entertainment events?

- But Igor just avoided them. The only student event that attracted him was an archaeological excavation, where only five people from our course were invited. We, freshmen, went to the construction team. We went to excavations in Pskov. The last time I saw Igor was at a class reunion a couple of years ago. Igor didn’t tell me anything about his work; I didn’t bother him with questions about his personal life.

Igor was not attracted to the profession of historian. He preferred military action.

His first forced march was Transnistria, he fought in Bosnia in a Russian volunteer detachment, and then in the brigades of the Republika Srpska Army. Igor visited Chechnya twice: in 1995 - as part of a motorized rifle brigade and from 1999 to 2005 - in special forces units.

Mikhail Polikarpov later wrote about the Russian volunteer detachment that fought in Bosnia. Among his heroes is Igor Girkin.

We contacted the writer.

“I met Igor on the basis of the Yugoslav events, when I was collecting material for my work,” Polikarpov began the conversation. “The first time we met was at the wake of our mutual friend who died in Yugoslavia.

— And what impression did Igor make on you then?

- It was quite a long time ago. I won't say it anymore. Then we talked a lot. The volunteer movement that came to war is a heterogeneous mass. Different people gathered there, each with their own motive. Igor and I were romantics; by that time we already had higher education and a decent amount of knowledge. But unlike me, Girkin turned out to be a man with a core of steel. He did not stop at Yugoslavia. War became his path. He has a strong character, an excellent education, and a broad outlook. Now all his best qualities are manifested in Slavyansk. I would say of him that he is a figure of the caliber of Garibaldi.

— Do you think that after his first war Girkin could no longer live differently?

- He was sucked in. At what moment this happened, I cannot say. I think that a person who spent several years in hot spots feels quite comfortable only in that environment. Initially, Igor had some prerequisites for military affairs. He always knew clearly what he wanted, he had clear convictions, he was able to risk himself in the name of the ideals in which he was convinced. Igor is merciless to himself and to others. Of course, if the Soviet Union had not collapsed, there would have been no hot spots; Igor would have worked as a historian in a museum or taught at a school. I have no doubt that he would have made a great teacher at some military university; he could teach officers a lot.

— Is a feeling of fear inherent in Strelkov?

— Within reasonable limits, this feeling is inherent in everyone. Although life changes people... But this is not the case with Igor. He adequately assesses risks and is responsible for other people. Even in Slavyansk he successfully fights with minimal losses. By the way, in that small town he actually created a personnel forge for the army of New Russia. When he learned that an unsuccessful operation with a large number of casualties had taken place in Donetsk, he sent reinforcements there from Slavyansk. Understand that Girkin, from the experience of Yugoslavia, understands how to create an army from scratch. The war in Chechnya taught him how to conduct long-term combat operations. The combination of these factors has played a decisive role in the current situation.

— The other day there was information that, on his orders, …

- This looks like Igor. Discipline needs to be maintained, I understand him here. I have no doubt that Girkin had good reasons for such actions. Although in one of his interviews he stated that he did not have the right to shoot people. And he would have kept his word if martial law had not been introduced on the territory of the DPR. Here the situation has already changed. In war it’s like in war. Igor received the right to take tougher actions. It is important for him that civilians understand that they are protected by disciplined and decent people.

- Why did people follow him, why did they believe him? After all, he is, in fact, a stranger for the residents of South-Eastern Ukraine...

— As far as I understand, he was invited to Slavyansk after all. The militia needed a commander who could lead them and teach them military affairs.

“But Strelkov himself said in an interview that he made the decision to go to Ukraine on his own.

“According to the information that I have, going to Ukraine really was his decision.” But then events unfolded in such a way that it was Slavyansk who needed him.

— Strelkov is called a real Russian officer. They say about him: “The concept of “honor” is not an empty phrase for him.” Is it so? Or is this how legends are created?

— When I talked with Igor, it seemed to me that this man had emerged from the past; in terms of moral and ethical qualities, he was clearly not from this century.

— Residents of Slavyansk say that in the city there were disagreements among the commanding staff, conflicts began. Can he crush shooters with his authority?

— I am a little aware of the situation in Slavyansk and I understand that the people there feel uncomfortable. And it's annoying. I am sure of one thing: Igor will not allow inconsistency among the militias. He will build a rigid vertical of power and will be able to maintain discipline. Remember his televised address to the people of Donbass, when he called on the male population to join the ranks of the militia? Several hundred people later came to see him. Although he clearly outlined the conditions: they say that there will be no freedom, you will have to fight where they say and for as long as they say.

My interlocutor flatly refused to tell stories from the life of Igor Strelkov-Girkin: “All this is inappropriate now.” He only allowed me to publish some excerpts from his documentary story.

“You can learn a lot from this work about Strelkov’s character,” Polikarpov added. — In my work, his call sign is Monarchist.

“...Igor passed through Transnistria, fought as part of a shock detachment of local militias near Dubossary. He went there immediately after defending his diploma at the Institute of History and Archives, and there, on the Dniester, he lost a friend...

...The curator, an ardent monarchist by conviction, christened the detachment “Royal Wolves.” Igor was also a monarchist and supported this proposal. Igor himself did not receive any nickname, the Russians called him by name, and the Serbs called him “the tsarist officer.”

The five of them, armed to the teeth, went to the heights. Igor the Monarchist represented artillery: his machine gun was equipped with an attachment for firing tromblons - rifle grenades.

A lone gunman struck them from the ridge. Igor worked accurately - he sat down on his knee and released the horn, and then, having reloaded the machine gun with a blank cartridge, he accurately fired a tromblon. A Muslim fighter was killed..."

“...A Russian volunteer woke up at night and noticed the dancing of the flames on the ceiling. The Monarchist was sitting at the table and opening a tin can. There was paper burning in an ashtray nearby. The glare of this fire was on the ceiling.

- Why are you doing this? — his comrade asked with relief, having already said goodbye to life.

“I burn old poems,” answered the Monarchist.

- What, you couldn’t do it in the oven? I almost got a shiver.

“It’s better for creativity,” the poet explained to him, “it inspires...”

“...After discussing the details of the operation, we split into an assault group of six fighters and a fire support group. The latter was headed by the Monarchist. He, a man who almost didn’t drink, was given the radio call sign “Vodka”. The assault group had its own call sign “Rakiya”...

...North of the road, on a hillock, the Russians installed their 82-mm mortar. The Monarchist who commanded the crew was outwardly calm, not expressing any emotions...

Pyotr Malyshev called the radio station and began to adjust the mortar fire, shouting to the Monarchist into the radio:

- Vodka! I am Rakia! Welcome!

- I am Vodka! Rakia, welcome!

— Move the mortar fire one hundred meters to the south!

- I am Rakia! Undershoot. Another fifty meters to the south!

Igor “groped” for the Muslims - and the mines began to hit the target... Splashes of tiles flew, one house, then another, burst into flames. After a number of successful hits on the farm, the “Turks” began to retreat, covered by small arms and mortar fire...

...The height was taken and the front line was moved further to the west.

The Muslims subsequently announced that during this battle they lost only nine of their fighters killed, standardly also reporting very large losses of the Chetniks... The Russians lost only one volunteer wounded..."

“Many people want to help him, but hardly anyone will go”

The main idea of ​​that work is derived from Girkin at the beginning:

“It was 1992. At the end of July, the war in Transnistria ended.

Many who have already smelled gunpowder, lost friends and become embittered, are left with a feeling that can be briefly expressed by the phrase: “We didn’t fight enough.” After the first euphoria - alive! - a state familiar to most professional warriors set in: the desire to take risks again, to live life to the fullest. This is the so-called “gunpowder poisoning syndrome.”

This very “gunpowder poisoning syndrome” never let Girkin go. Peaceful life seemed too boring to him. There wasn't enough salt and pepper.

And in the intervals between wars, he found an occupation close to military affairs. Engaged in the reconstruction of historical events.

Igor Girkin-Strelkov was a member of the Drozdovsky association, which studies the history of the Drozdovsky regiment.

Help "MK": Colonel Mikhail Gordeevich Drozdovsky was the only one who brought a large detachment from the German front to the aid of A.I. Denikin’s Volunteer Army. In the spring of 1918, his detachment of 1,000 young officers made a 1,200-mile trek from Yassy to Novocherkassk. The detachment went through all of Ukraine in battles.

Strelkov also led the “Consolidated Machine Gun Team”, organized on the basis of the military-historical club “Moscow Dragoon Regiment”. He took part in such reconstructions as the “War of '16”, the festival “In Memory of the Civil War”, “Valor and the Death of the Russian Guard”. The club is also engaged in the reconstruction of a machine gun team from the period of the First World War, the Civil War, and a machine gun platoon of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War.

In the reconstructions, Igor Strelkov preferred to “play out” the lower military ranks, despite the fact that he is a senior reserve officer of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. On a number of resources, Strelka is mentioned as “a supporter of the White movement and the monarchy.”

Reenactors are unusual people. They seem to live in the time they are playing out. And today, most of them do not want to reveal the military secret about the identity of Igor Strelkov. One of Strelkov’s colleagues explained his refusal as follows: “The light in the window is help to the enemy.”

“When Igor appeared at the club, his military background came in very handy for us,” reenactor Nikolai began the conversation. “He always willingly shared the wisdom of drill training and tactics, and taught us how to properly handle weapons, even if they were fake. He repeatedly invited everyone to listen to a lecture on assembling and disassembling his faithful friend - the drained Maxim machine gun.

- When did you meet him?

- About three years ago. We, members of the VIC Markovtsy club, used to often go to events dedicated to the Civil War. Igor and his so-called machine gun team almost always traveled with us. During all the time I communicated with him, I got the impression that he was not just a reenactor dressed in the uniform of that era, but a real white officer of that era. His behavior and manners showed him to be a noble, honest man devoted to his homeland. He did not play, but did not live his life. Many said: “He was born at the wrong time, he would have been in that era...”

— Did Igor work somewhere?

— He said that he worked in a government agency. But he didn’t say where exactly.

— What was Strelkov’s “machine gun team” like?

— At events during the Civil War, they wore shoulder straps of the Drozdovsky Infantry Regiment, and during events during the First World War, they wore shoulder straps of the 13th Infantry Regiment. Igor was the leader of this team, and in fact - a small military history club. He maintained a page on the VIC Markovtsy forum, where he posted announcements about upcoming events and shared useful information. His responsibilities included equipping the club staff with the necessary equipment and uniforms. He also took people to events in an organized manner, and led the people on the “battlefield.” There are those who do search work in the summer. Igor did not search.

— How many people were in his “machine gun team”?

- No more than five. These are different people: a couple of guys about 25-30 years old, there was a man about 40, another, it seems, about 50 years old. Another guy, about 30 years old, went out with him earlier, quite strong, understanding and strictly observing the army discipline that reigned in Strelkov's team. I remember how he even carried a 50-kilogram machine gun with some ease.

— Did Strelkov have a strict selection process for his team or could anyone sign up for him?

— The selection was tough. He preferred people of strong physique, without bad habits and ready for hard service. Alcohol was strictly prohibited in the “machine gun team”. Those who had previously been noted for unseemly acts or inappropriate behavior were also not accepted into the team. This is how he described the future of the unit: “We will not chase numbers. The goal is to create a team with which you won’t be ashamed to go into battle, to a parade, to a temple, or on a visit.”

Many reenactors seriously abuse alcohol - both before, during, and after events. There was nothing even close to this in Igor’s team. On the contrary, if he knew in advance that people with problems with alcohol would go on the train or bus to the reconstruction, he most likely preferred not only a different route, but also a different type of transport. He disdained to ride next to “alcohol tourists.” Once on the train there was an incident when Igor had to get up in the middle of the night and persuade the police not to imprison a reenactor who was drunk as hell. Through joint efforts they were persuaded. But after this incident, Igor politely asked this unfortunate reenactor not to appear at events where Igor himself appears. For this position towards alcohol and “alcotourist-reenactors” Igor was highly respected. Igor and alcohol are incompatible things.

— Did he invest his money in reconstruction?

“He is a very passionate person, he spared no expense for the benefit of the common cause. I think he said that he doesn’t even have a car, since he invests almost all his money in reconstruction.

— What amounts are we talking about? What did the money go to?

— These are, as a rule, mock-ups of machine guns, which were then redesigned and certified by the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a sterilized weapon capable of creating only a good noise effect. The effect of firing from such a machine gun makes a great impression on the audience. I can only say that the model of the Maxim machine gun today costs about 130-150 thousand rubles in the store. And in order to bring its appearance as close as possible to the “royal model”, you need to buy a lot of bronze parts produced before the revolution, which also cost from 5 to 100 thousand apiece.

— Recently, there has been information that Strelkov went through hot spots, was an employee of the FSB, GRU... Have you heard anything about his past?

— He wrote on one of the forums that he served in the artillery in Chechnya. I went to Bosnia as a volunteer. I also know about the GRU and the FSB from rumors in the press. I don't have any additional information.

— Surely among the reenactors they discussed why Strelkov decided to go to Ukraine. Did anyone know about his plans?

- This came as a surprise to all of us. But his decision is clear to us all. The patriot did not put up with what was happening and went where he was needed. He even wrote in his memoirs that to those who have once been to war, peaceful life will seem insipid and unreal.

— Did any of his reconstruction colleagues go to Ukraine with him?

“We are all connected by families and work. Many people want to help him, but hardly anyone will go.

— Why did Igor change his surname Girkin to Strelkov?

— “Strelkov” is easier to pronounce and a more memorable surname.

After the conversation, the interlocutor sent us Strelkov’s poems, which he posted on his forum.

“This is precisely the principle by which Igor lives, as described in his poem,” Nikolai added.

Edification to yourself

Don't wait for orders!
Don't sit
Referring to peace!
Forward! Through the winds and rains
And the blizzards howl!
Leave comfort and comfort -
While you're young, go!
When they sing the funeral song,
You'll have time to relax!
Be honest, be brave, don't notice
Ridicule and interference.
If you are the eldest, answer
Not for yourself - for everyone!
The one who made no mistakes -
I withered away in idleness -
He didn't dare the burden of life
Try it on your shoulders!
Whatever your destiny -
Good or bad
Still remember: the measure of your deeds
Only God will appreciate it!