Man claiming to be former Russian officer wants to give evidence about war crimes in Ukraine

Dutch news program EenVandaag reported on Monday that Igor Salikov, 60, had flown into the Netherlands. 

Salikov claims he was in eastern Ukraine in 2014 when conflict erupted there, and again in 2022 when Russia launched its ongoing invasion. He is believed to have applied for asylum and could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

“I know where the orders came from,” he told EenVandaag via videolink in claims which could not be independently verified.

Information about the Russian chain of command could be crucial in building more cases against senior Russians involved in the war.

The court’s prosecution office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Salikov claims to have served as an officer in the Wagner Group, the now-disbanded military contractor which initially played a prominent role in Russia’s invasion.

Under the leadership of businessman Yvgeny Prigozhin, Wagner mercenaries staged a brief mutiny in June, with armed troops marching on Moscow. Prigozhin died in a plane crash two months later.

Salikov’s arrival at the Hague, where the ICC is based, comes several months after the court issued an international arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, alleging in March that he was responsible for the abduction of children from Ukraine. A Kremlin spokesperson denied the allegations at the time.

Salikov also claims to have information about the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in 2014.

All 298 passengers and crew were killed when the plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, by a Russian missile system. A Dutch court convicted two Russians and a pro-Moscow Ukrainian rebel in November 2022 for their roles in downing the flight travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

In February, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) responsible for investigating the downing said it had uncovered “strong indications” that Putin approved the supply of heavy anti-aircraft weapons to Ukrainian separatists who shot down the plane.

However, the team said they had insufficient evidence to prosecute Putin or any other suspects and they suspended their eight-and-a-half-year inquiry.

While the active investigation into the downing of the Boeing 777 was halted in February, “our door remains open for Russian insider witnesses. The JIT remains committed to the MH17 investigation,” the team’s statement said.