‘I’d rather pay taxes to NATO’ - Russian IT worker reportedly quits with mass email wishing death to enlisted coworker and saying he’s moving to France
‘I’d rather pay taxes to NATO’ - Russian IT worker reportedly quits with mass email wishing death to enlisted coworker and saying he’s moving to France
‘I’d rather pay taxes to NATO’ Russian IT worker reportedly quits with mass email wishing death to enlisted coworker and saying he’s moving to France — Meduza
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/42409797
According to the Telegram channel Baza, the man had worked as a systems engineer at an IT company affiliated with Russia’s Skolkovo Innovation Center. He resigned in June, sending his goodbye email to 513 coworkers.
In the message, he stated that he had opposed the Russian government since 2016 and condemned the war in Ukraine. He explained his decision to move to France as a protest against the war, writing that he preferred his taxes go to NATO rather than support Russia’s invasion. He also wished for the death of a coworker who had signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry.
Company employees reported the email to the police. Authorities later stated that a legal review found the message contained “incitement to hatred and hostility.”
According to Baza, the man was fined in absentia. His social media reportedly indicates that he is already in France.
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Good on him, I hope he'll protect himself though. Russia has a habit of assassinating defectors.
Unless he was secretly employed by one of the Russian intelligence agencies, or in another way involved with state secrets, I doubt they'll go through the hassle of assassinating him abroad.
They might not send an elite GRU hit squad after him, but paying some local lowlifes to make it look like an accident is well within the budget.
They also assassinated the helicopter pilot that defected. They go after anyone that would threaten their narrative.