A Russian diplomat to the United Nations (UN) not only quit his job in protest of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine, he went out with a big bang. Boris Bondarev sent his resignation to 40 diplomats. To top off his heroic exit, he wrote that he was “ashamed” of Putin’s “warmongering.”
The 41-year-old diplomat addressed the letter written in English to Ambassador Gennady Gatilov. Bondarev told the Associated Press (AP) that when Russia attacked Ukraine:
‘For twenty 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 AP wrote that Bondarev said in his statement:
‘It is intolerable what my government is doing now. As a civil servant, I have to carry a share of responsibility for that, and I don’t want to do that. Am I concerned about the possible reaction from Moscow? I have to be concerned about it.’
The diplomat went on to vouch for more of his Russian cohorts:
‘Not all Russian diplomats are warmongering. They are reasonable, but they have to keep their mouths shut. If my case is prosecuted, then if other people want to follow, they would not.’
The Russian diplomat was offended by the “lies and unprofessionalism” that were emerging from the Russian Foreign Ministry, especially from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to The Daily Beast:
‘[In]18 years, he went from a professional and educated intellectual … to a person who constantly broadcasts conflicting statements and threatens the world [including Russia] with nuclear weapons! Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not about diplomacy. It is all about warmongering, lies and hatred.’
Bondarev wrote about Putin in his statement:
‘[He wants] only one thing — to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity.’
Russian guards recently arrested a woman holding up a little blank white piece of poster board, pulling her away even though it was all caught on camera. No wonder it has not been common, perhaps the first time, a Russian diplomat has catapulted himself out of his own country in this way:
‘The resignation amounts to a rare — if not unprecedented — public admission of disgruntlement about Russia’s war in Ukraine among the Russian diplomatic corps, at a time when Putin’s government has sought to crack down on dissent over the invasion and sought to quell conflicting narratives from the government line about how the “special military operation” — as it’s officially known in Russia — is proceeding.’
The Russian diplomat has no plans to abandon Geneva, Switzerland. [E]xecutive Director of the advocacy group U.N. Watch, Hiller Neuer described Bondarev’s actions plainly:
‘Boris Bondarev is a hero.’
Neuer added that the western nations should “encourage more Russian diplomats to follow” in Bondarev’s path. He tweeted the resignation letter below:
‘Bondarev should be invited to speak in Davos this week. and the U.S., the U.K. and the EU should lead the free world in creating a program to encourage more Russian diplomats to follow and defect, by providing protection, financial security, and resettlement for diplomats and their families.’
Thus far, the Russian mission has not responded to questions regarding the diplomat’s resignation.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
Three White Lions podcast, Gloria Christie reads her week’s most important news/ commentary stories in the liberal online newspaper The Bipartisan Report. Gloria Christie Report her newsletter for people on the go. Written in her own unique style with a twist of humor in a briefer version of Bipartisan Report. Christie’s Mueller Report Adventures In Bite-Sizes a real-life compelling spy mystery. Find her here on Facebook.
