The Russian media has identified Strelkov as an officer of the Russian military reserves who has expressed hardline views on eliminating perceived enemies of the Russian state and has fought on the federal side in Russian counter-separatist campaigns in Chechnya and on the pro-Moscow separatist side in the conflict in Moldova 's breakaway region of Transnistria . According to various sources , Strelkov took part in the Bosnian War as a volunteer on the Serb side , and in Chechnya under contract . In 1999 , he published his memoirs of the fighting in Bosnia and Herzegovina . In 2014 , he was accused by Bosnian media ( Klix ) and a retired Bosnian Army officer of having been involved in the Višegrad massacres in which thousands of civilians were killed in 1992
Višegrad massacres
Višegrad massacres
Igor Strelkov (officer)