Invasion is crime against the world, Russian diplomat says as he resigns
Exit of counsellor to the UN represents first high-profile defection since the start of the war
A RUSSIAN diplomat yesterday urged his colleagues to follow his example and quit after issuing a furious denunciation of Vladimir Putin and calling the invasion of Ukraine a crime.
Boris Bondarev, a counsellor at the Russian permanent mission to the UN in Geneva, said he felt it was his moral duty to take a stand against the Putin regime.
“I couldn’t take it any longer. I should have done it at the start [of the war] but not everyone is a hero,” the 41-year-old career diplomat said.
“What’s the point in our work when the Russian president is the only ‘diplomat’ in this country and he ‘knows better’? All diplomats should have asked themselves that and maybe quit.”
The counsellor’s dramatic exit represents the first high-profile defection by a Russian diplomat since the start of the Ukrainian invasion.
Mr Bondarev, who graduated from the elite Moscow university that trains diplomats, had worked at the Russian foreign ministry for two decades before he handed in his damning resignation letter yesterday before sharing it on social media.
“For 20 years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on Feb 24 of this year. The aggressive war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine, and in fact against the entire Western world, is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, but also, perhaps, the most serious crime against the people of Russia.”
Mr Bondarev said he had no fears for his safety, and that he felt “disgusted” representing Russia abroad after President Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
An article about “crimes against humanity” committed by the Ukrainian government in the country’s east has been leading the official website of Russia’s mission to the UN.
Mr Bondarev has specialised in nuclear non-proliferation for the majority of the past decade. He is now horrified by how lightly Russian officials raise the prospect of deploying nuclear weapons. “It really is chilling. All of this talk is just a nightmare.”
Several of Mr Bondarev’s acquaintances have quietly quit their jobs at the ministry since the start of the invasion, Mr Bondarev said, as a great number of Russian diplomats, including some who make hawkish statements in the media, are privately appalled by the brutal war in Ukraine and the ministry’s role in making up excuses for apparent war crimes.
The counsellor recalls how Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, used to be a role model for several generations of Russian diplomats who respected him for his craft and good manners before undergoing a “deplorable evolution to become a person who spurts out utter nonsense” and bringing in notorious figures like spokesman Maria Zakharova, famous for her decidedly undiplomatic language.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has triggered a wave of anti-war protests and sent thousands of Russian dissidents into exile. Some of Russia’s best-known artists, singers and filmmakers have spoken out against President Putin’s aggression only to be blacklisted or threatened with criminal charges.
Russian media speculated that many senior figures in the government, including liberal-leaning officials like the Central Bank chief, have been privately grumbling about the invasion but none have taken a public stand.
Russian opposition figures in exile such as Lyubov Sobol, a close ally of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, praised the diplomat for “the right words”.
Mr Bondarev said he had been crafting his statement for weeks as he was trying to come to terms with the fact that he will likely be dismissed by the Russian state as a traitor, and his diplomatic career of 20 years was going to be over.
“It would be a badge of honour,” he said when asked about accusations of betraying the Kremlin. “I have done my
‘I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on February 24 of this year’
‘It would be a badge of honour. I have done my duty as a citizen as I see it – probably for the first time in my 41 years’
duty as a citizen as I see it – probably for the first time in my 41 years.”
The diplomat, who has been living in Geneva since 2019, has no immediate plans and has no idea what kind of backlash to expect at home.
“The most important thing is that my cat is safe,” hesaid when asked about his security concerns.
Hiller Neuer, executive director of the advocacy group UN Watch, described Mr Bondarev as “a hero.”
“Bondarev should be invited to speak in Davos this week,” he added, “and the US, the UK and the EU should lead the free world in creating a programme to encourage more Russian diplomats to follow and defect, by providing protection, financial security and resettlement for diplomats and their families.”