Russia’s arrest of Igor Girkin, a former Russian intelligence officer and leading nationalist military blogger, will probably infuriate elements in the military as well as his fellow bloggers, according to UK intelligence.

The Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence update that Girkin had long been a critic of the Russian defence ministry’s conduct of the war in Ukraine, but that in recent days his comments “turned to direct criticism of Russian president Vladimir Putinand his time in power”.

The former former battlefield commander of Russia’s proxy forces in eastern Ukraine, who was convicted by a Dutch court over the 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, was arrested on “extremism” charges on Friday.

The UK ministry said in its update, posted on Twitter, that Girkin’s arrest “is likely to infuriate fellow members of the mil-blogger community – and elements within the serving military – who largely see Girkin as an astute military analyst and patriot”.

Girkin had played a major role in Russia’s war in the Donbas from 2014 and spent months on the frontline last year, it said.

While Girkin is no ally of the Wagner Group, he was likely only prepared to push the limits of public criticism in the context of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s June 2023 abortive mutiny. The taboo against unmasked criticism of the Putin regime has significantly weakened.