May 24, 2022: "My name is Boris Bondarev, in the MFA (Minister of Foreign Affairs) of Russian since 2002, since 2019 until now - Counsellor of the Russian Mission to the UN Office at Geneva.
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.
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 also, perhaps, the most serious crime against the people of Russia, with a bold letter Z crossing out all hopes and prospects for a prosperous free society in our country.
Those who conceived this war want only one thing - to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity. To achieve that they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes. Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have already died just for this.
I regret to admit that over all these twenty years the level of lies and unprofessionalism in the work of the Foreign Ministry has been increasing all the time. However, in most recent years, this has become simply catastrophic. Instead of unbiased information, impartial analysis and sober forecasting, there are propaganda clichés in the spirit of Soviet newspapers of the 1930s. A system has been built that deceives itself.
Minister Lavrov is a good illustration of the degradation of this system. In 18 years, he went from a professional and educated intellectual, whom many 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!
Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not about diplomacy. It is all about warmongering, lies and hatred. It serves interests of few, the very few people thus contributing to further isolation and degradation of my country.
Russia no longer has allies, and there is no one to blame but its reckless and ill-conceived policy.
I studied to be a diplomat and have been a diplomat for twenty years. The Ministry has become my home and family. But I simply cannot any longer share in this bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy."
This simple eloquent renunciation of Putin and the Foreign Ministry is a clarion call to all Russians. Bondarev -not a name most of us know - is stationed in Geneva, as a member of the Russian Foreign Mission to the United Nations. He has been quietly doing his job for the last 22 years working for the Russian Foreign Ministry and is happy and honored to be assigned to his position in Geneva. So, why give up his cushy career with the Russian government? Because the war is a crime, the Russian aggressors want power and wealth more than the well being of its citizens, and the purveyors of war are isolating and humiliating Russia. That’s why.
According to the New York Times, “The Kremlin has gone to extraordinary lengths to silence dissent on the war. On state television, the war’s opponents are regularly branded as traitors. A law signed by Mr. Putin in March punishes “false information” about the war — potentially defined as anything that contradicts the government line — with as much as 15 years in prison. Partly as a result, virtually no government official had spoken out publicly against the invasion until Mr. Bondarev’s resignation.”
What bravery! This is the ultimate sacrifice and honor to stand up to power. Dedicated to the precepts of the United Nations, Mr. Bondarev bravely has set the bar for all Russian workers. For that matter, he sets an example to all government and political leaders throughout the world.