The vice-president of Gazprombank left Russia for Ukraine and joined the defense of Kyiv

Igor Volobuev, vice-president of Gazprombank, left Russia for Ukraine and joined the territorial defense of Kyiv there. How it all happened, the publication told Present Tense.

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Volobuev said that he was born in Akhtyrka, Sumy region in Ukraine. And now his father, younger brother and friends are there.

“In just a few days, I decided that I couldn’t live in Russia anymore. Because the Russians killed my father, killed my acquaintances, close friends. My father lived in a cold basement for a month. I was told by people whom I have known since childhood that they are ashamed of me. Do you know what they told me? “So that we never hear again that you are from Akhtyr, that you are Ukrainian. Never". I packed my things and flew out of Russia on March 2,” Volobuev says.

Since there is no direct communication between Ukraine and Russia now, he first went to Istanbul (Turkey), then to Riga (Latvia), and then through Poland he got to Ukraine.

“I came to Ukraine to defend my Akhtyrka with a weapon in my hands. Back in 2014, when Crimea was occupied, I promised myself that if Russian tanks came to my Akhtyrka, I would go to war with them,” Igor explained, writes Liga.Net.

He worked at Gazprombank for more than six years, and before that, he was an employee of Gazprom for another 16 years, "of which nine years, in fact, he was the head of the press service."

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Volobuev, among other things, said that since 2004 he wanted to return to Ukraine, but could not do this due to family reasons. He called Russia's aggression against Ukraine a "war crime."

“This is a crime on the part of Putin, the Russian authorities and, in fact, the Russian people. Because it is not Putin who kills Ukrainians here, it is not Putin who steals toilet bowls, it is not Putin who rapes women. This is the Russian people. All my life I considered myself a Ukrainian, and my responsibility is twofold. It will be much more difficult for me to wash off the Russian past. I was born in Ukraine, I lived here for 18 years, so I answer double and triple,” Volobuev said.

At least four top managers of Russian gas companies have died under strange circumstances since the beginning of the year, but Volobuev says he was not in danger.

“There was no threat to my life in Russia. Moreover, I had a very stable situation in Russia in the material sense. Yes, in every sense I had everything there, let's say, well. And if it was a safety issue, I wouldn’t go anywhere at all,” he explains.

Volobuev believes that the death of the former vice-president of Gazprombank Vladislav Avaev and his family looks like a staged suicide.

“I want to clarify - he was not just a vice president, he was the first president, through one post. I don't know what he did, I never knew him and never heard of him before. I also know that at the time of his alleged suicide, he was the acting first vice president of Gazprombank. I do not believe that he could kill his wife and daughter, I think that this is a staging. Why? It is hard to say. Maybe he knew something and represented some kind of danger, ”Volobuev suggested.

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The former vice-president of Gazprombank also spoke about the “gas wars” against Ukraine: “We, as PR people who participated in this war then, had the task of showing that the Ukrainian gas transmission system (GTS) was in an emergency, the pipes were rotten, what to reconstruct the system is too expensive and easier to abandon.”

According to him, Gazprom managed to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of European consumers, and the volume of transit Russian gas fell from 104 billion in 2011 to 41 billion cubic meters in 2021.

“The first deputy head of the presidential administration, Alexei Gromov, is the main shadow cardinal who manages the information policy in the Russian Federation and the information policy of Gazprom in particular. In this regard, Gazprom was not a generator of ideas. He was an executor, and all tasks came from above. I received tasks from the press secretary of Gazprom, Sergey Kupriyanov,” he added.

“I'll tell you more: I know for sure that on the tapes of Russian state news agencies, such as TASS, RIA Novosti, there were comments on behalf of Gazprom, bypassing Gazprom. I was even told that they read their comments on the tape without even knowing that they said it. Such a level of fusion of power and media,” Volobuev notes.

“I understand that I am not welcome. Understand, this is not a question about expecting someone to like my visit. This is a question about myself. I can't live with this. I understand that I came all in shit, and I have no idea that I can completely wash it all off. But inside I am clean, - says Igor. “When I first left, I had no idea what would happen. I have nothing now, not even a livelihood. But I don't care, I want to clean up and stay here forever."

“I consider Ukraine my homeland and always have. I don't know. I understand that the chances are low. I have judges. This is my father, my relatives, this is you, these are people who will just walk past me along the street. They can spit in my face, and I will know why,” Volobuev emphasizes. “I understand that it will be very difficult, and I understand that I deserve it.”

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