A veteran Russian diplomat is speaking out against his country’s war in Ukraine.
Boris Bondarev resigned his position in Geneva in protest of the “bloody, witless” war “unleashed by Putin against Ukraine.”
It marks a rare political protest from within the Russian foreign policy establishment.
Bondarev was a counselor at the Russian permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva. In a public statement, he wrote that never has he been so ashamed of his country.
He said that Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not about diplomacy, but is “all about warmongering, lies and hatred.”
He worked for two decades in the Russian foreign ministry, and is now the highest-level diplomat yet to resign publicly from the Russian foreign ministry over the war. A career diplomat, he has served as an adviser on nuclear non-proliferation for nearly a decade, first in Moscow, and then at the permanent mission to the UN as well as other International organizations in Geneva.
Bondarev said the decision was simple. “We all must be responsible. And I don’t want to have any responsibility for what I don’t approve of,” he said, explaining that he saw what Russia was doing the “worst things” and that being a civil servant meant he was somehow related to it.
His statement was published on his Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. He also sent copies to diplomats and media outlets.
The executive director of the Geneva-based human rights organization UN Watch, Hillel Neuer, said Bondarev is a hero. He called on all other Russian diplomats at the United Nations and worldwide to follow the moral example and resign.
Experts and analysts say that as far as resignations go, this one was scathing. They say Bondarev did not hold back in his criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Lavrov, and the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine. It is rare to hear such strong words from a Russian official.
There are calls for Bondarev to be allowed to speak at Davos this week.
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