LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:
Next, we're going to meet the man who says he is responsible for starting the war in Ukraine. The conflict has stretched into a new year despite talks aimed at stopping it. Russian-backed separatists are still contending against the Ukrainian government. The fight has killed almost 5,000 people and transformed an eastern region once known for mines and metal works. NPR's Corey Flintoff reports on the man who says he's proud to have touched off the conflict.
COREY FLINTOFF, BYLINE: Igor Girkin has a knack for turning up in tumultuous times. Last spring, Ukraine was in the midst of a revolution that drove pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych from office. In early April, Girkin arrived in the eastern city of Slovyansk, where protesters were demonstrating against what they saw as coup in Kiev. It wasn't long before Russian news channels were reporting on an armed insurrection.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Speaking Russian).
FLINTOFF: And according to Girkin, he led those armed volunteers as they seized key government buildings.
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IGOR GIRKIN: (Through interpreter) There was no other order to seize the town, except for my order.
FLINTOFF: That's Girkin, speaking on Russian TV last month. He's a 44-year-old Russian citizen and a former colonel in the Federal Security Service, or FSB. He prefers being called by a nickname he chose for himself, Strelkov, or shooter. According to Boris Kagarlitksy, Kremlin planners didn't have a strategy for eastern Ukraine, but just wanted to control the situation.
BORIS KAGARLITSKY: Especially when I dealt with people who were part of their own team, like Girkin, who definitely was sent to Ukraine by Russian intelligence. And he doesn't deny that fact. And then, because of the lack of very clear vision, a very clear plan, he started making decisions on his own.
FLINTOFF: Kagarlitsky is head of the Institute for Globalization Studies and Social Movements in Moscow. He says Girkin's aim was to create a separatist region that would quickly be annexed by Russia, as Crimea had been just a few weeks earlier. But Kagarlitsky believes Moscow just wanted to keep the region in turmoil as a form of leverage against the Ukrainian government. For his part, Girkin wanted to add the territory to Russia because he's devoted to the idea of restoring the czarist Russian Empire.
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GIRKIN: (Through interpreter) I certainly consider myself a monarchist. Above all, I'm a patriot of the empire, though naturally I consider myself a patriot of the Russian people.
FLINTOFF: Girkin was named minister of defense in the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, but he didn't last long in that job. Ukraine accused him of ordering the abduction, torture and murder of political opponents, and he was among the first separatist leaders to be sanctioned by the West.
After a series of advances by the Ukrainian army, Girkin and his men were forced to retreat to Donetsk, and by mid-August he had been mysteriously dismissed. For the past couple of months, Girkin has been back in Moscow, where he's given a few interviews to nationalist news media. Despite his popularity with nationalists, Boris Kagarlitsky thinks he's not a threat to President Vladimir Putin.
KAGARLITSKY: I think he's really looking for the role of a hero, but not of a politician. He's not looking for power.
FLINTOFF: Girkin just married his personal assistant, and he posed with his bride in an orange-and-black striped suit, mimicking the colors of the order of St. George, a decoration that's become a symbol of Russian patriotism. Corey Flintoff, NPR News, Moscow. POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: The original on-air and online versions referred to a photo of Igor Girkin wearing an orange-and-black striped suit, colors that symbolize Russian patriotism. While the photo was genuine, the suit was added digitally to Girkin.