A 20-year veteran of the Russian diplomatic service announced his resignation on Monday in protest at his country’s war against Ukraine, multiple media reported.
In a rare public protest from a Russian official, Boris Bondarev, a diplomat stationed at the Russian mission to the United Nations in Geneva, posted a statement on a LinkedIn account condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Russian Foreign Ministry Business criticized for complicity in what he described as an “aggressive war” — language banned in Russia under war censorship laws.
“Twenty years of my diplomatic career, I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but I have never felt more ashamed of my country than on February 24 this year,” Bondarev wrote, referring to the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin. to invade Ukraine. † “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 perhaps the most serious crime against the Russian people, with a bold Z crossing over all hopes and prospects for a prosperous free society in our country.”
The respected Russian business newspaper Kommersant contacted Bondarev, who confirmed the authenticity of the post. DailyExpertNews confirmed receipt of a resignation emailed to diplomats in Geneva.
The Russian mission to the UN in Geneva declined to comment on the matter to DailyExpertNews, and Bondarev did not respond to messages sent to the LinkedIn account.
The LinkedIn post criticized Russia’s leadership for corruption, saying: “Those who conceived this war want only one thing: to stay in power forever, to live in pompous tacky palaces, to sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian navy, enjoy unlimited power and complete impunity. To achieve that, they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as necessary. Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have already died for this.”
It also pointed out the Russian Foreign Ministry for harsh criticism.
“I am sorry to admit that in all these twenty years the level of lies and unprofessionalism in the work of the State Department has continuously increased. However, in recent years this has become simply catastrophic. Instead of unbiased information, unbiased analysis and sober predictions, there are propaganda clichés in the spirit of Soviet newspapers of the 1930s,” the report read.
“Today the State Department is not about diplomacy. It is all about warmongering, lies and hatred. It serves the interests of the few, the very few, thus contributing to further isolation and degradation of my Russia has no allies left, and there is no one else to blame but the reckless and ill-conceived policies,” the post continued.
The LinkedIn profile describes Bondarev as a veteran in the Russian diplomatic service, with expertise in arms control and non-proliferation. The photo on the profile now has the hashtag #opentowork.
The US State Department said Monday that Bondarev’s resignation shows that “despite the Kremlin’s propaganda, there are Russians who deeply disagree with what President Putin is doing in Ukraine and share our concern about the danger he creates to the whole world community.”
A spokesman for the State Department said it was encouraging that “many are willing to stand up to” Putin, noting that “it takes tremendous courage to stand up to an oppressor, and it takes courage.” to speak the truth to power, especially given the long and appalling record of trying to silence legitimate and peaceful protests and dissent.”
“The falling morale is clearly not limited to the Russian armed forces fighting in Ukraine,” they said.
“Boris Bondarev’s statement underlines that people all over the world, including in Russia and even within the Russian government, recognize the brutality of the Kremlin’s attack on the Ukrainian people,” the spokesman said. “They are doing this despite the Kremlin’s efforts to produce and perpetuate disinformation.”
