A veteran Russian diplomat to the U.N. Office at Geneva says he handed in his resignation before sending out a scathing letter to foreign colleagues inveighing against the �aggressive war unleashed� by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.

Boris Bondarev, 41, confirmed his resignation in a letter delivered Monday morning after a diplomatic official passed on his English-language statement to The Associated Press.

�For twenty years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on Feb. 24 of this year,� he wrote, alluding to the date of Russia�s invasion.

The resignation amounts to a rare � if not unprecedented � public admission of disgruntlement about Russia�s war in Ukraine among the Russian diplomatic corps. It comes at a time when Putin�s government has sought to crack down on dissent over the invasion and quell narratives that conflict with the Russian government�s line about how the �special military operation� � as it�s officially known in Russia � is proceeding.

�The aggressive war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine, and in fact against the entire Western world, is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, but also, perhaps, the most serious crime against the people of Russia, with a bold letter Z crossing out all hopes and prospects for a prosperous and free society in our country,� Bondarev wrote, referring to the widespread use of the letter �Z� as a symbol of support for Russia�s war in Ukraine.

Reached by phone, Bondarev � a diplomatic counselor who has focused on Russia�s role in the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva after postings in places like Cambodia and Mongolia � confirmed he handed in his resignation in a letter addressed to Ambassador Gennady Gatilov.

A spokesman for the mission didn�t immediately respond to AP requests seeking comment.

�It is intolerable what my government is doing now,� Bondarev told the AP. �As a civil servant, I have to carry a share of responsibility for that. And I don�t want to do that.�

Bondarev said he had not received any reaction yet from Russian officials, but added: �Am I concerned about the possible reaction from Moscow? I have to be concerned about it.�

He told the AP that he had no plans to leave Geneva. Previously, he said he had expressed disapproval of the war to Russian colleagues.

�Some said, �Everybody disagrees, but we have to keep working� while others replied �Shut up and stop spreading this bad influence� especially among younger diplomats,�� he recalled.

Asked if some colleagues felt the same, Bondarev said: �Not all Russian diplomats are warmongering. They are reasonable, but they have to keep their mouths shut.�

He suggested his case could become an example.

�If my case is prosecuted, then if other people want to follow, they would not,� Bondarev said.

Asked if he planned to defect, he chuckled and said, �I didn�t think so far� ahead.

In his English-language statement, which he said he emailed to about 40 diplomats and others, Bondarev said those who conceived the war �want only one thing � to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity.�

He railed against the growing �lies and unprofessionalism� at Russia�s Foreign Ministry and took particular aim at Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

�In 18 years, he (Lavrov) went from a professional and educated intellectual � to a person who constantly broadcasts conflicting statements and threatens the world with nuclear weapons!� he wrote. �Today, the (Russian) Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not about diplomacy. It is all about warmongering, lies and hatred.�

Hiller Neuer, executive director of the advocacy group U.N. Watch, tweeted a copy of Bondarev�s letter and said simply: �Boris Bondarev is a hero.�

�Bondarev should be invited to speak in Davos this week,� he added, referring to the World Economic Forum�s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. �The U.S., the U.K. and the (European Union) should lead the free world in creating a program to encourage more Russian diplomats to follow and defect, by providing protection, financial security and resettlement for diplomats and their families.�

In his email, Bondarev wrote that he should have resigned earlier, but didn�t because of �some unfinished family business� and because he needed to �gather my resolve.�

�It�s been already three months since my government launched a bloody assault on Ukraine and it�s been very hard to keep my mind more or less sane when all about were losing theirs,� he wrote.

BREAKING: ?? Russia�s Counsellor to the United Nations in Geneva has resigned.

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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— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 23, 2022

(AP)