GENEVA — Boris Bondarev, Russia’s counselor to the United Nations in Geneva, resigned on Monday, calling the war in Ukraine a “crime against the Ukrainian people” as well as Russia’s population.
“Never have I been so ashamed of my country as on February 24 of this year,” the Russian expert on arms control wrote on a LinkedIn post.
“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,” he added. [Update, May 26: Bondarev wrote on his LinkedIn page: “Friends, I am so much grateful for all of you who sent me your support and appreciation. It is very important for me and my family in this situation we are in now. Thank you all very much!]
Bondarev accused the ministry of spreading “propaganda clichés in the spirit of Soviet newspapers of the 1930s” and of warmongering. He further wrote that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was a “good illustration of the degradation of this system,” blasting him for giving conflicting statements and threatening the world with nuclear weapons.
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.
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“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,” Bondarev wrote, concluding his post with a “job offers are welcome.”
The post received several comments of encouragement. UN Watch, an independent monitor of the UN system, also circulated on Twitter a screenshot of a letter that the organization says was shared with other diplomats.
Contacted by Geneva Solutions, the Russian mission said that it had “no comment” and that any official response would be published on the website of the foreign ministry, but nothing has been posted so far.. The Russian mission in Geneva had no mention of Bondarev’s resignation on its website.
This article originally appeared on the Geneva Solutions news site. It was updated on May 27.
Michelle Langrand is a journalist for Geneva Solutions.
