A Russian diplomat at the country’s permanent mission in United Nation in Geneva said on Monday that he would leave his post because he disagreed with Moscow’s invasion of Ukrainea rare political resignation because of the war.
Boris Bondarev, who identifies himself on LinkedIn as a consultant at Russia’s The permanent mission to the UN, who works on arms control, told Reuters: “I arrived at the mission like any other Monday morning and I delivered my resignation and I went out. ”
“I started envisioning this a few years ago but the scale of this disaster prompted me to do it,” he said, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24.
He said he raised his concerns about the invasion with senior Embassy staff several times. “I was told to keep my mouth shut to avoid distractions,” he said.
There was no immediate comment from Russia’s permanent mission to the UN.
Previously, he announced his departure from LinkedIn.
“I studied to be a diplomat and have been a diplomat for twenty years,” Bondarev wrote. “The Russian Foreign Ministry has become my home and my family. But I simply couldn’t share any more in this bloody, pointless, and completely unnecessary freak. “
Ukraine urged Russian diplomats to resign during a Human Rights Council debate in March. However, Bondarev said he doesn’t expect others to follow suit. “I’m afraid I’m the only one.”
Kira Yarmysh, a spokesman for jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, welcomed the resignation.
“Looks like there’s only one honest person at the State Department,” she wrote on Twitter.
Russia has sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in a special operation aimed at degrading its southern neighbor’s military capabilities and eliminating what it calls dangerous nationalists.
The West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia and provided military support to Ukraine in response.
