The court refused to mitigate the punishment of the former Minister of Defense of the DPR, Igor Strelkov.

      On June 19, the Kirovo-Chepetsk District Court considered the defense's petition for Igor Strelkov (Girkin) to replace the unserved part of his sentence with a milder form — restriction of freedom. The court denied the request, leaving him to serve his term in IK-5 in the city of Kirovo-Chepetsk. Strelkov himself stated in his Telegram channel that "all formalities and ceremonies were observed": the lawyer and prosecutor were allowed to speak, and prison staff were summoned and asked questions. However, according to him, the prison administration managed to present four disciplinary sanctions to the court. He acknowledged that with four sanctions and no rewards, there is no practice of releasing "ordinary criminals on parole." Strelkov also stated that he is "absolutely not surprised" by the decision and expected exactly this outcome. Strelkov's lawyer, Alexander Molokhov, also confirmed the denial, noting that the court sided with the prison administration. This is not the first attempt by the defense to achieve a milder regime: a similar petition in December 2024 was also rejected. It should be noted that Igor Strelkov was transferred to Kirovo-Chepetsk Correctional Colony No. 5 in July 2024. In January 2024, the Moscow City Court sentenced him to four years of imprisonment for public calls for extremist activities (part 2 of article 280 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). In December of the same year, he submitted a request through his lawyer to replace his imprisonment with forced labor. In March 2025, rumors about his suicide in the colony appeared online, which were promptly denied by his lawyer, wife, and the Federal Penitentiary Service.