'Never before have I been so ashamed of my country': diplomat of the Russian UN mission quit because of the war in Ukraine

Boris Bondarev, a member of the Russian diplomatic mission to the UN based in Geneva, has submitted his resignation and sent a strong letter to his foreign colleagues condemning Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine, reports with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

41-year-old Bondarev announced his resignation in a letter addressed to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov, who oversees the United Nations office at the Russian Foreign Ministry. Bondarev also confirmed his resignation in interviews with Reuters and AP.

“On Monday morning, I came to work as usual, sent my resignation letter and left,” Bondarev said. “I started thinking about it several years ago, but the scale of this disaster forced me to do it.”

Bondarev added that he spoke several times about his condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine to senior members of the Russian mission, but he was “asked to keep his mouth shut to avoid consequences.”

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Later Bondarev explained the motives for his action in more detail. “The reason is that I completely disagree with what my government has been doing since at least February, and I no longer want to be associated with it,” the diplomat said.
According to him, few in the Russian Foreign Ministry share his position: “I think most people follow the propaganda and what their superiors tell them. When you work in a ministry, there is a hierarchy, so you are obliged to follow the instructions of management. For many years, the critical approach in the ministry was largely eliminated.”

In response to a question about whether Bondarev is afraid of being called a traitor, the diplomat replied: “I think they already consider me one.”

"Bold letter Z"

Boris Bondarev is a diplomatic adviser who focused on Russia's role at the Disarmament Conference in Geneva after serving in places such as Cambodia and Mongolia.

The text of Bondarev’s resignation letter in English was published on Twitter by human rights activist and executive director of UN Watch Hillel Neuer.

BREAKING: ?? Russia's Counsellor to the United Nations in Geneva has died.

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

- Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 23, 2022

In his statement, Bondarev writes that over the twenty years of his career, he has seen different turns in Russian foreign policy. “But never before have I been as ashamed of my country as on February 24 of this year,” says the diplomat.

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 probably the most serious crime against the people of Russia. The bold letter Z has dashed all hopes and prospects for creating a prosperous and free society in our country.”

“Those who planned this war want only one thing - to remain in power forever, to live in pompous, tasteless palaces, to sail on yachts comparable in capacity and cost to the entire Russian fleet, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity. For this they are ready to sacrifice as many lives as necessary. Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have already died for this alone,” he wrote.

Bondarev also sharply criticized the Russian Foreign Ministry: “Over twenty years of work, the level of unprofessionalism and lies in the ministry has constantly increased, reaching a catastrophic level in the last year. Minister Lavrov is a vivid illustration of the degradation of the system. Over the course of 18 years, he turned from an educated professional into a person constantly broadcasting contradictory statements and threatening the world (that is, Russia too) with nuclear weapons! The Russian Foreign Ministry today is engaged in everything except diplomacy, or rather, inciting war, lies and hatred.”

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“I studied diplomacy and I was a diplomat for twenty years. The ministry became my home and my family. But I simply can no longer share this bloody and completely senseless shame,” Bondarev wrote in a statement.

The reaction of Russia

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on Bondarev's statement: “Mr. Bondarev is no longer with us, rather, he is against us. He has a position from which he condemns the actions of the Russian leadership, and they are supported by almost the entire population of our country. This means that this gentleman spoke out against the general consolidated opinion of our country.”

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