Ex-Gazprom official fighting for Ukraine has message for Russians

SkyNews writes about this. 

Ihor Volobuyev, once a senior spokesperson for Russian energy giant Gazprom, is now fighting against Russia as a Ukrainian soldier. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Volobuyev left his life in Moscow and joined the Ukrainian forces.

"I believe that until we kick Putin's backside, we can't think about anything else," he told Sky News from Kharkiv, where he's learning to operate drones. He vowed to fight for as long as his health allows.

Volobuyev, who was born in Ukraine’s Sumy region, always considered himself Ukrainian despite living most of his life in Russia. He worked at Gazprom until he was sidelined for opposing the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

In February 2022, after Putin launched the invasion, Volobuyev defected. He fled to Ukraine through Poland, leaving behind his family. By June 2022, he was on the battlefield.

"I took part in the fighting in Luhansk region, in Donetsk region. I was wounded near Bakhmut," he said, recalling how a young soldier pushed him out of the way of an explosion that killed several others.

Recently, Volobuyev celebrated receiving Ukrainian citizenship, symbolically burning his Russian passport. "This is a passport of slavery and a symbol of fascism," he said in a video. "And this is the passport of free people. This passport is respected by the entire civilised world. I became a citizen of Ukraine. I chose dignity. If I could do it, so can you."

His message to Russians: "The time will come, I really hope, when Russia will officially recognise him as a criminal. And the Russians will repent for being with him, choosing him, listening to him, and for the time they spent in this war under his leadership. I hope they will be ashamed."

Despite a warrant for his arrest in Russia, Volobuyev says he has no plans to return. "Ukraine is my home."