MH17 convict Igor Girkin in court for appeal against extremism conviction in Russia

Igor Girkin will appear in court in Russia today for the appeal against his extremism conviction. The man, known in the Netherlands for his involvement in downing flight MH17 in 2014, has almost zero chance of the court overturning his conviction and has suggested an alternative punishment - being sent to the front in Ukraine, according to NOS’s Russia correspondent Geert Groot Koerkamp.

Girkin was arrested in Russia in July last year. In January, a Russian court convicted Girkin of extremism for critical statements he made about Russian President Vladimir Putin - the man had stated that the Russian armed forces have not been effective enough in Ukraine. The court sentenced him to four years in prison for "public calls to engage in extremist activities."

The man appealed against his conviction. But according to Groot Koerkamp, it almost never happens that a Russian appeals court overturns convictions in these types of cases. Girkin’s request to be sent to fight in the war in Ukraine has a better chance.

Since shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian armed forces have been recruiting in prisons, the Russia correspondent told the NOS Radio 1 Journaal. Prisoners have to actively fight on the front for six months and can then go home. According to Groot Koerkamp, Girkin is known to support Russia’s invasion and war, his criticism was only for how the forces were deployed.

Igor Girkin is known in the Netherlands as one of three men convicted for the downing of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014. The disaster killed all 298 people on board the Malaysia Airlines flight, including 196 Dutch people.

Girkin was serving as a separatist force commander in eastern Ukraine at the time. In November 2022, the court in The Hague sentenced him, Sergey Dubinsky, and Leonid Chartchenkoto to life in prison for their role in downing flight MH17. The court considered it proven that they played critical roles in delivering the BUK missile system that shot down the passenger plane and removing it from the scene afterward. None of the suspects attended the trial or the ruling.