A retired Russian military officer is suspected of being involved in the attack that downed a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane in eastern Ukraine on Thursday.
Igor Girkin, who is also known by his pseudonym Igor Strelkov, has been called "one of the most powerful separatist figures in eastern Ukraine." He's a Russian citizen from Moscow and has declared himself the Minister of Defense of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), according to Radio Free Europe.
The Ukrainian government says Strelkov is a covert agent of Russia's GRU military intelligence. In documents posted on separatist websites he has asked Russia to provide military assistance to the DPR.
Strelkov is a veteran of both the Soviet and Russian armies, according to Reuters.
A Reuters article from May describes Strelkov as "the top Russian operative in the separatist east:"
He moves through the streets in a black Mercedes, his face with pencil moustache hidden behind tinted windows, and his aim is to "destroy" Ukrainian forces that venture onto his territory.
In a leaflet distributed in the rebel Donetsk region, "Colonel Igor Strelkov" assumed command of all rebel forces there and called for Russian army help to ward off what he calls the threat from the Kiev "junta" and from NATO.
Strelkov's history and his powerful position within the separatist movement in the east could be taken as proof that Russia is assisting or even coordinating the separatist uprising.Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-igor-strelkov-blamed-for-shooting-of-mh17-2014-7#ixzz381o6392L
