MOSCOW, October 17. /TASS/. The Moscow City Court has found lawful the decision to prolong the arrest of the Donetsk People’s Republic’s former Defense Minister, Igor Strelkov (Girkin), accused of calls for extremism.

The court considered an appeal against the decision to extend the preventive measure and decided to leave the ruling of the court of first instance unchanged. The defense’s appeal was turned down.

Earlier, a court prolonged Strelkov's arrest until December 18.

The criminal case against Strelkov was initiated on July 18. He was detained in Moscow on July 21 to be charged with calls for extremist activities (Article 280 of the Criminal Code). He faces a maximum punishment of five years in prison. The criminal proceedings were launched over Strelkov's posts on his Telegram channel.