Boris Bondarev, a diplomat with the Russian UN delegation in Geneva, writes in a letter that he is resigning. The reason is the war against Ukraine, reports Hillel Neuer, leader of the independent watchdog UN Watch, on Twitter.
Bondarev is the most senior Russian diplomat to have jumped off since the invasion of Ukraine began, writes UN Watch in an article.
BREAKING: 🇷🇺 Russia’s Counsellor to the United Nations in Geneva has resigned.
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.
– During a 20-year career as a diplomat, I have seen various manifestations of our foreign policy, but have never been as much ashamed of my country as on February 24 this year. Putin’s aggressive war against Ukraine, and in practice the entire Western world, is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, but also possibly the most serious crime ever against the Russian people. With a thick Z, all our hopes and future prospects for a prosperous free society in our country have been erased, Bondarev writes in the letter.
Dagbladet has tried to contact the Russian UN delegation in Geneva to confirm the information about Bondarev’s departure. The call was rejected.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyj addressed the summit of the World Economic Forum Foundation on 23 May. Video: WEF sea view
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– Boris Bondarev is a hero. We now urge all other Russian diplomats in the UN – and around the world – to follow his moral example and step down, says Neuer in UN Watch in the article.
Longer out
In the letter, Bondarev reaches out to those he believes are behind the war, and whom he accuses of profiting from it.
– Those who created this war, want only one thing – to remain in power forever, live in lavish tasteless palaces, sail in yachts that in tonnage can be compared to the entire Russian Navy, and enjoy unlimited power and total impunity. To achieve this, they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as required. Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have already died as a result, the letter said.
The diplomat cites Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as “a good illustration of the weathering in the system.”
– FALLEN MINISTER: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gets the slippery slope in the Bondarev letter. Photo: Maksim Shemetov / Reuters / NTB sea view
In the course of 18 years, he went from being a professional and well-educated intellectual, which many of my colleagues have held in high esteem, to a person who constantly sends out contradictory statements and threatens the world (including Russia) with nuclear weapons! writes Bondarev, who according to the letter has worked in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2002 and has been a member of the Geneva delegation since 2019.
– I studied to become a diplomat and have been a diplomat for twenty years. The ministry has become my home and my family. But I can simply no longer take part in this bloody, headless and totally unfounded disgrace, Bondarev writes.
