High-ranking officers of the Russian armed forces and high-ranking officials of the Russian intelligence service Defect in significant numbers from Russia to the West, US news channel CNN says (you will switch to another service).
CNN’s extensive story has interviewed persons who defected from Russia and those who assisted them in defecting Vladimir Osetshkinwho has himself been living in exile in France since 2015.
CNN says it has confirmed the identities of several defecting soldiers and officials.
According to Osetshkin, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused a “big wave” of defecting officers and civil servants.
Most of the escapees are low-ranking soldiers, but according to Osetshkin, among the defectors there is also an unnamed former Russian minister and a former three-star general.
The defectors bring information to the west
Osetshkin is known as the founder of the human rights organization Gulagu.net, founded in 2011.
After the war that Russia started last February, Osetshkin has focused on helping those who want to escape from Russia in particular. According to Osetshkin, requests for help come daily.
Osetshkin and his organization were helped, for example, by a former Russian paratrooper Pavel Filatyev to flee the country last August.
Filatyev published his critical memoirs about his experiences in Ukraine in August. His original plan was to publish the memoirs on the Internet and then surrender to the police in Russia. However, Osetshkin was able to persuade Filatyev to flee from Russia via Tunisia to France.
Osetškin says that he also helped a former Wagner soldier Andrei Medvedev to flee from Russia on foot to Norway in January, where he applied for asylum. Norwegian police arrested Medvedev, but on Wednesday he was reportedly released.
CNN writes that Osetshkin has become “a hero to the growing number of high-level officials defecting to the West” because of the help he provided.
Osetshkin has promised to assist in the defection of persons who agree to hand over information about the activities of the Russian administration. This information is still shared with European intelligence services, says Osetškin.
Especially those who worked for the Russian security service FSB have brought useful information to the West.
– When a person is high-ranking, he understands very well how Putin’s the administration works, says Osetshkin.
According to him, the defectors understand very well that if they reveal what they know, the fear of falling victim to Novichok or killers is great. Novichok is a nerve agent that was used as a double agent Sergei Skripal in attempted murder in 2018.
Osetshki also lives under the threat of an assassination attempt
France has offered Oseshkin asylum, but guaranteeing his safety is a more difficult task, CNN writes.
Osetshkin has been arrested in absentia in Russia and is on the Russian authorities’ most-wanted criminals list.
Osetshkin tells CNN about the latest assassination attempt from last September. He says that he saw a red laser beam on the wall of his home, after which he and his family threw themselves on the ground. The hitman mistakenly shot the policeman who entered the room, Osetškin says.
– For the past ten years, I have done a lot to protect human rights and other people. But at that moment I understood that my effort to help others creates a very high risk for my family, says Osetshkin.
However, Osetshkin continues his work under the constant armed guard provided by France. His exact whereabouts and routine are kept secret.
According to Osetshkin, his past work as an investigative journalist and anti-corruption activist has helped him survive. He says that on two occasions the hitman has been able to stop at his doorstep following a tip.
Researcher: “Some interpret that the ship is sinking”
The news about the officials and experts who escaped from Russia shows that the war has not progressed as Russia had planned. That’s what the researcher says Jyri Lavikainen From the Foreign Policy Institute.
According to Lavikainen, there have been a lot of desertions in Russia and frontline soldiers have refused to go to battle.
– Such news is in line with the general picture that the war is not progressing well for Russia.
According to Lavikainen, the atmosphere in Russia can become chaotic if things go clearly for the worse from their point of view. Then it may be safer to be somewhere other than Russia.
– It depends on what kind of position the defectors are in, but inevitably this conveys the image that we are leaving a sinking ship. In addition, of course, one’s own spiritual gold is interesting, Lavikainen explains.
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Read also: The Norwegian police have released the Wagner defector