In a rare protest by a Russian government official, Boris Bondarev, Russia’s Counsellor to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, resigned in ‘shame’ over President Vladimir Putin’s “aggressive war” against Ukraine, which entered its fourth month today.
Bondarev, who had been serving in the Foreign Ministry since 2002, confirmed to Reuters that he had submitted his resignation on Monday, before sharing a written statement with his colleagues via email and on social media. “I started to imagine this a few years ago but the scale of this disaster drove me to do it,” he said in reference to the Ukraine war.
BREAKING: 🇷🇺 Russia’s Counsellor to the United Nations in Geneva has resigned.
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 23, 2022
Boris Bondarev: “Never have I been so ashamed of my country.”
UN Watch is now calling on all other Russian diplomats at the United Nations—and worldwide—to follow his moral example and resign.
🧵: pic.twitter.com/ZuKqq0gJO8
In his email, Bondarev wrote that his decision was made on the day of the invasion but he had to “gather some resolve” and take care of “some unfinished family business” before quitting. “It’s been already three months since my government launched a bloody assault on Ukraine and it’s been very hard to keep my mind more or less sane when all about were losing theirs,” he wrote further.
Additionally, Bondarev told The Guardian that the decision was “simple.” “When you see that your country is doing the worst things and being a civil servant, you’re somehow related to that, it’s your decision just to terminate your connection with the government. We all must be responsible. And I don’t want to have any responsibility for what I don’t approve of,” he stated.
Bondarev revealed that when he shared his concerns regarding the invasion with senior embassy officials, he was “told to keep my mouth shut” to avoid consequences. In another interview with the Associated Press (AP), he acknowledged, “Not all Russian diplomats are warmongering. They are reasonable, but they have to keep their mouths shut.”
In a scathing letter submitted to the Russian Ambassador, Gennady Gatilov, which has also been widely shared on social media, Bondarev wrote: “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 February 24 of this year,” referring to the starting date of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian diplomat resigns in a protest against putin invasion in Ukraine. Can’t wait others to follow. Read the whole thread below 👇 https://t.co/WQDqoPMMcg
— Volodymyr Yelchenko (@YelchenkoUN) May 23, 2022
The career diplomat, who served as a Counsellor of the Russian Mission in Arms Control and Disarmament since 2019, is the highest-ranking official to have publicly quit over Russia’s “special military operation” to “denazify” Ukraine. According to Russian media outlet Kommersant, several other foreign ministry officials have resigned owing to the Ukraine war, “but almost none of them have made public statements about this.”
In his statement, Bondarev also mentioned that the lies and unprofessionalism in his Ministry had become “catastrophic,” of which Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was a “good illustration of the degradation,” adding, “In 18 years, he went from a professional and educated intellectual, whom many of my colleagues held in such high esteem, to a person who constantly broadcasts conflicting statements and threatens the world (that is, Russia too) with nuclear weapons!”
Furthermore, Bondarev claimed that the Foreign Ministry was no longer about diplomacy, but all about “warmongering, lies, and hatred” that served the interests of a few, who were responsible for the current isolation of the country. “The Ministry has become my home and family. But I simply cannot any longer share in this bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy,” he added.
Hiller Neuer, the executive director of advocacy group UN Watch, was the first to tweet Bondarev’s letter, saying, “Boris Bondarev is a hero,” and commented that the Russian diplomat should be invited to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“We now call on the free world to encourage more Russian diplomats to follow and defect, by providing protection, financial security and resettlement for diplomats and their families,” Neuer added.
Exclusive: Russia’s counsellor to the UN resigned, the most senior diplomat to defect since the war began. "Boris Bondarev is a hero," said UN Watch's Hillel Neuer. "We call on all other Russian diplomats worldwide to follow his moral example and resign."https://t.co/MRVbUkZaSj
— UN Watch (@UNWatch) May 23, 2022
Jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, too, welcomed the resignation, tweeting, “It seems that there is only one honest person at the foreign ministry.”
While speaking with the BBC, the Russian envoy admitted that the resignation may not change anything, but it could serve to be “one little brick into the bigger wall which would eventually be built.” Bondarev also disclosed that Russia’s invasion was met with “happiness, delight, euphoria” amongst his colleagues, noting that Moscow had increasingly veered towards ‘radicalism.’ In this regard, he opined that the failing Russian economy in the face of Western sanctions is unlikely to “change their views.”
Attacks of conscience in Putin's Russia are often followed by heart attacks... It's a good and true statement, but I have little sympathy for anyone who only woke up to Putin's evil on February 24. Is he trying to save his soul or his ass? https://t.co/XPJ716FbKg
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) May 23, 2022
Though he hasn’t heard from the ministry yet, Bondarev is sure that Moscow will now see him as a traitor even though he hasn’t “done anything illegal” and is thus concerned for his safety. During a Human Rights Council debate in March, Ukraine had called on Russian diplomats to quit. However, Bondarev thinks if he is prosecuted, others wouldn’t follow suit.
In addition, he told AP that he plans to continue living in Geneva and is open to other job offers. When asked whether he wants to defect, Bondarev said he hadn’t thought that far ahead. Nevertheless, he is open to seeking asylum, adding, “I think that if someone offers to help in this difficult situation, I think it would be very gratefully accepted.”