GENVE – A diplomat from the Russian mission to the United Nations in Geneva resigned from his post on Monday, out of shame over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, describing it as a crime against both countries.
Boris Bondarev, an adviser in the Russian mission since 2019 who described himself as a 20-year veteran of the Russian Foreign Ministry, announced his resignation in an email sent to diplomats in Geneva on Monday. His resignation is the most high-profile gesture of protest made so far by a Russian diplomat over the war in Ukraine.
“During 20 years of my diplomatic career, I have seen several turns of our foreign policy, but I have never felt more ashamed of my country than I was on February 24 this year,” Bondarev said, referring to the date President Vladimir V. Putin sent Russian troops to 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,” he added.
Diplomats in Geneva confirmed they had received the email. Reached by phone after responding to a message on his LinkedIn account, Mr Bondarev confirmed he had sent it to several dozen colleagues on other missions and said he had resigned Monday morning.
Mr Bondarev, 41, is listed on the United Nations website as a counselor in the Russian mission; he sent DailyExpertNews a copy of his diplomatic passport to confirm his identity.
The Russian mission to the United Nations in Geneva said its spokesman could not be reached immediately but would issue a statement soon.
Bondarev, who dealt with disarmament issues and was described by Western officials in Geneva as a middle-class diplomat, expressed a bitter condemnation of Russia’s leadership.
“Those who conceived this war want only one thing: to remain in power forever, to live in pompous tacky palaces, to sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian navy, to enjoy unlimited power and complete impunity.” he said in a statement attached to his email to diplomats. “To achieve that, they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as necessary.”
He added: “It has been three months since my government launched a bloody attack on Ukraine and it was very difficult to keep my mind more or less sane while they were losing all of theirs.”
War between Russia and Ukraine: important developments
A call for tougher sanctions. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the leaders of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to pool their financial power to further punish Russia. Mr Zelensky also urged world powers to help Ukraine establish secure grain export corridors to bypass a Russian blockade.
He should have resigned three months ago, he said, when Russia invaded, but had been delayed because he had unfinished family business and “must collect my resolve.”
Mr Bondarev sharply criticized the Russian Foreign Service and its chief diplomat, Sergey V. Lavrov. The ministry had been his home, he said, but in the past 20 years the lies and unprofessionalism had reached a level he described as “simply catastrophic.”
“Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not about diplomacy. It’s all about warmongering, lies and hatred,” he wrote, adding to Russia’s isolation.
Mr Lavrov was “a good illustration of the degradation of this system,” said Mr Bondarev. In 18 years, the Russian foreign minister had changed from a professional and educated intellectual valued by colleagues to a threat to the world with nuclear weapons.
“I just can no longer share in this bloody, senseless and absolutely unnecessary shame,” Mr Bondarev wrote.