A guard at one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residences in occupied Crimea has fled to Ecuador, calling the Kremlin leader a war criminal.
Vitaly Brizhaty, who worked on the Ukrainian peninsula for the Federal Protection Service (FSO), the Kremlin’s bodyguard agency, told Dozhd TV in an interview that he opposed the war in Ukraine.
Brizhaty is the second member of the FSO to flee and publicly criticize the president over the invasion of Ukraine.
Brizhaty worked at Olivye, one of Putin’s two palaces in Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. RFE/RL’s Crimea.Realities revealed the massive palace in Olivye in a 2021 report.
I suspect the Kremlin’s intelligence services are a little too busy to hunt this guy down.
Putin’s ego would likely make him redirect some of those resources to “investigate” the ex-guard’s “suicide”.
Ego and fear of dissenters. Probably keen to make an example of everyone he can to avoid more following.