More details on Russian defector Igor Salikov (20 DEC 2023)
Vladimir Osechkin provided more insights into the Russian Military Intelligence Colonel's defection
20 DECEMBER 2023 UPDATE with more details & insights from Vladimir Osechkin concerning Russian defector Col. Igor Salikov:
‣ Russian human rights defender, exiled in France since 2015, Vladimir Osechkin involved Ukraine's Office of the General Prosecutor early on with Salikov's case for guidance and verification of Salikov's claims, to ensure the debacle that occurred with Russian war criminal Pavel Filatyev does not get repeated.
‣ The Office of the General Prosecutor of Ukraine has a deciding role and holds the reins in the Salikov case given he committed war crimes on the territory of Ukraine. At this time, OGP of Ukraine has classified Salikov as a witness.
‣ Salikov provided a multitude of video testimonies to Ukraine's prosecutors starting in July 2023. The prosecutors have been able to corroborate and verify his specific claims of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
‣ Salikov has additional evidence on the shooting down of flight MH17 by the Russian forces over Ukraine on July 17th 2014 in which 298 civilians from across the world were murdered.
‣ Osechkin has tens of hours of video testimony from Salikov.
‣ Salikov is prepared to be imprisoned for his crimes, whether by the ICC at The Hague or in Ukraine, but wishes to ensure his testimony is heard concerning Russia's war crimes in Ukraine. Salikov wants to ensure his family - wife and children age 3 and 9, are safe from the tentacles of Putin's regime.
‣ Salikov was one of the founders of Redut PMC with Dmitry Utkin in the 1990s.
‣ Salikov got within 10-15km from Kyiv on the mission to take the SBU HQ and assassinate Ukraine's security service operators, but the mission failed as a result of Ukraine's heroic defense at the onset of the 2022 invasion.
‣ CORRECTION: Salikov was living within the spetsnaz system in Russia when he contacted Osechkin and subsequently fled abroad, and even had an offer of a high-ranking lucrative position at a PMC formed by RosAtom.
It appears he was able to sort out the aforementioned military criminal case against him for disobeying the order to execute 5 Ukrainian civilians in March 2022 in Bucha, and was in the Russian regime's good graces at the time he chose to defect.
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For more background, read the complete translation of Salikov's affidavit to the ICC: