Visegrád 24 reposted
Visegrád 24@visegrad24
5:53 AM · Apr 12, 2025 · 218.4K Views
Today is the 11th anniversary of the start of war in the Donbas.
It was launched on April 12th 2014 in Sloviansk by a group of around 60 special forces and paramilitary men led by the Russian GRU agent Igor ”Strelkov” Girkin.
They crossed the border from Russia on April 11th and took control of the government building in Sloviansk on April 12th.
Strelkov had been present in Ukraine from the start of the war, having entered Crimea on February 26th and participated in the armed storming of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea on February 27th.
In March 2014, his unit stormed a photogrammetric center in Simferopol, further consolidating control over strategic locations.
Strelkov was instrumental in organizing local pro-Russian militias and coordinating with Russian regular forces, particularly the so-called "little green men" (Russian special forces without insignia).
Strelkov was a former officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), having served until at least 2012 and was an officer of Russia’s military intelligence (GRU).
He was closely linked to Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-installed prime minister of Crimea, serving as a security aide and advisor.
After Crimea, Strelkov moved to eastern Ukraine, leading a group of 52–55 armed militants across the Russian-Ukrainian border on the night of April 11–12, 2014, to seize Sloviansk, a city in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
- On April 12, 2014, his group captured key administrative buildings, including the police station, Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) offices, and city administration, declaring Sloviansk part of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
- Strelkov established himself as the military commander of Sloviansk, organizing defenses, setting up roadblocks, and overseeing operations that included ambushes, kidnappings, and executions.
- He admitted to sparking the broader Donbas War, stating, “I’m the one who pulled the trigger of war. If our unit hadn’t crossed the border, everything would have fizzled out.”
- His forces engaged Ukrainian troops, killed SBU officers, and took OSCE observers hostage.
Strelkov ordered the execution of several individuals, including Ukrainians Yurii Popravko, Yurii Diakovskyi, and Volodymyr Rybak.
- By May 2014, he was named “commander-in-chief” and “defense minister” of the DPR, consolidating control over separatist fighters in the region.
Facing intense Ukrainian military pressure, Strelkov’s forces retreated from Sloviansk to Donetsk on July 5, 2014, after which his influence waned, and he was dismissed in August 2014.
It was also in August that large formations of the Russian regular army invaded the Donbas region from Russia to stop the Ukrainian Army from crushing the pro-Russian separatist forces that had taken control of some cities in the region.
Strelkov later fell out with Putin, accusing him of not taking enough of Ukraine and being too weak.
Strelkov was sentenced to 4 years in prison last year for ”inciting extremism”
Sloviansk is still in Ukrainian hands 11 years after Strelkov’s attack and 3 years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
https://x.com/visegrad24/status/1910994619577340274
