Miroslava Reginskaya, the wife of imprisoned Russian nationalist Igor Girkin (aka Strelkov), has rejected reports saying her husband was released and allowed to join the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.
Reginskaya wrote on Telegram on September 11 that Girkin's request to be sent to fight in Ukraine had been rejected twice.
She cited a letter from her husband saying that in the rejection letters, officials wrote that "we do not need colonels."
Girkin was sentenced to four years in prison in January on a charge of making public calls for extremist activities.
In April, Reginskaya and Girkin's lawyers said the former leader of Kremlin-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine had received written consent from a Russian military unit that it would make him a commander of one of its platoons, adding that Girkin planned to join Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.
Russian law does not allow those convicted of extremism to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry, but several reports in recent weeks said Girkin might have been recruited from prison to the war in Ukraine.
The 53-year-old was arrested in July 2023 after strongly criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin online for his handling of the Ukraine invasion. He accused the Kremlin leader of "cowardly mediocrity" and described him as a "nonentity."
He also called out then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for making "mistakes" in the invasion and accused him and Putin of "incompetence."
Girkin last year even called on Putin to transfer power to "someone truly capable and responsible."
A former officer of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Girkin has also argued for a total military mobilization to ensure Russian victory in the war.
Girkin was a key commander of the separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region in 2014 and helped Russia occupy Ukraine's Crimea that year.
In November 2022, a court in the Netherlands sentenced Girkin and two other defendants to life in prison in absentia in the case of the 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine. All 298 people onboard died in the attack.
In February, international investigators said there were "strong indications" that Putin was personally involved in the incident.
The Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was blown out of the sky on July 17, 2014, over territory held by the separatists in eastern Ukraine.
The victims came from more than a dozen countries, although more than two-thirds were Dutch.
Russia has denied any involvement in the downing of the plane.