The Russian Federation has confirmed the detention and intends to arrest the terrorist Igor Girkin (nickname Strelkov), who for several years was a member of the terrorist organization "DPR" operating in the occupied territories of Ukraine, and is also accused in the case of the downed Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.

According to Russia, the court in Moscow will soon consider the petition of the investigation on the election of a preventive measure. The investigation asks to take Girkin into custody. According to the court's file, it’s about a criminal case on calls to carry out extremist activities.

Girkin's arrest was reported earlier on Friday by his wife, and his lawyer that his client was taken away by law enforcement officers after a search at his place of residence.

In November last year, the District Court of The Hague found Girkin, another Russian and one Ukrainian guilty of the crash of a Malaysian Boeing in the sky over Donbas in July 2014. The court sentenced all three in absentia to life imprisonment.