Putin's former bodyguard flees to Ecuador, condemns war against Ukraine

09.09.2023 23:20

Ukrinform

A former employee of Russia’s Federal Protection Service, who guarded President Vladimir Putin's residence in occupied Crimea, resigned from service and managed to cross out of Russia to Ecuador. He calls Putin a criminal and opposes the war in Ukraine.

This was reported by Dozhd, Ukrinform saw.

Vitaliy Bryzhatiy moved with his family from Kamchatka to the temporarily occupied Crimea, got a job in riot police, and then - in the FPS as a K9 instructor. He guarded Putin's residence in the village of Oliva on the southern coast of Crimea. In the neighborhood are the residences of the Deputy Head of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, and the head of the FSB, Aleksandr Bortnikov.

According to Bryzhaty, Putin does not trust anyone, not even his bodyguards, who may not know whether the president is around or not. "People can be told: 'he is resting at this residence,' and everyone runs around and guards the place, but he may be in another location," claims the former security official.

Bryzhatiy says that during trips to Crimea, Putin's arrival is announced simultaneously at two airports – Sevastopol and Simferopol, the distance between them being more than 100 kilometers. But the president can arrive by other means of transport, for example, by sea. "This is how the man fears for his life," says Bryzhatiy.

He explains that he became disillusioned with the president after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. His agency’s employees were forbidden to communicate with Ukrainian relatives, citizens of the United States, the European Union, and any people who oppose the war, under threat of criminal prosecution.

His colleagues expected that after the war, if Ukraine was captured, they would have more jobs and new positions.

Bryzhatiy tried to resign from service, but at first he was not allowed to, and at the same time he was threatened with deployment to the frontline. He secretly obtained a foreign travel passport. His wife was issued a residence permit in Ecuador as a skilled worker. Bryzhatiy informed the employer that now he also has a permit and therefore the law prohibits him from remaining on the government job. After that he was dismissed. "The last phrase I heard when I was walking out was: 'good luck at the frontline,'" Bryzhatiy claims.